Day at the Barn

One hot day in July Mommy took me to Ms. Kelly's barn to help with the horses and ride them. Ms. Kelly has 4 horses and one donkey. Her horses' names are Mama, Sister, Baby, Sonny, and then there's donkey. I was really excited to ride one of the horses, but Mommy said I had to help with the horses first. We took Baby out of her stall and put a lead on her and Ms. Kelly led her into the riding arena. We brushed her, well, I really brushed her tail a few times. I was a little nervous.


Then while Mommy held Baby's lead, I went back to the barn to help get the saddle, and blanket. It was heavy. Ms. Kelly put the saddle and bridle on while we watched. She walked Baby around to get her to move around so she could tighten the saddle before I got on.


I got up on Baby and Ms. Kelly walked me around leading Baby. I was so excited!


You can see that my feet didn't touch the stirrups. Just before I dismounted, Baby shook her whole body like a wet dog would and it scared me. I didn't really want to get back up after that. Mommy rode Baby all by herself without Ms. Kelly leading her! Then Ms. Kelly put me up on Baby with Mommy. Baby didn't go very fast. In fact she kept stopping like she wanted us off.


After we rode Baby, we had to take off her saddle, bridle, and blanket. Ms. Kelly wiped Baby down. We brought snacks for the horses - peppermints and carrots. Only Donkey and Sister liked the carrots, but everyone liked the peppermints including Cona the dog! I loved feeding the peppermints to Sister but was a little afraid of her big teeth. Mommy became good friends with Donkey. after the snacks, we let everyone out into the arena. Ms. Kelly brought a big ball (yoga ball) for the horses to play with. They didn't know what to think of it! They just kept snorting at the ball. Donkey who was now Mommy's best friend, kept standing really near her and nipping at her which made the horses think that Donkey was getting snacks. So the horses all came over near us and it scared me a little. I had a good time though and was so glad Ms. Kelly let us help and ride.


Much Love,
Carlisle Drew