photography by Dave Russell (http://daverussellphotography.com/)
My mom is the reason my horse dreams come true. She was there to remind me breathing is a really good thing to do when show jumping at my first show ever, and she was there, in the pouring rain, to cheer me on in the first event I ever won with Noah. She was there when I fell in love with that chestnut trouble maker, and she was there to hug me while I cried in sheer frustration after the worst clinic with him in the history of riding. I don’t know how my mom did it, but I sure hope I can figure it out. She was the reason that I can look back with a grin on that summer bike ride so many years ago, when I fed a horse along the trail a carrot and told her some day I’d have a horse of my own. She made that day dream a reality.
In honor of mother’s day, here are some ideas of fun mother-daughter horsey activities. I’ve included some every-day ones, as well as some great places to visit around the US, just in case you’re traveling and need a quick horse fix. This list is just a few I thought up–please feel free to add to it!!
1. Read “Black Beauty” together. Some of my fondest memories of childhood are the stories my mom would read to me, our cat curled up on her lap as she painted pictures with words. “Black Beauty” is one of the classic horse stories, up there with “My Friend Flicka,” and far easier to read. There is a picture-book version and the full chapter book. Don’t forget a few tissues for poor Ginger’s chapter… Read more on A mother’s day…
I could see the frustration rising right up to her blond pigtail braids. “I said CANTER, Captain!” she shouted as the lanky thoroughbred trotted unperturbed around the arena.
“Sweetie, I think you need to sit deeper in the saddle,” her mother offered.
The pigtails whipped around as the girl turned. “I know what I’m doing, mom.”
I gestured the girl over to me. “Hey there. Captain’s getting a bit confused, huh? He needs you to straighten up really tall and just park your butt in the saddle when you ask him to canter. If you don’t sit deep and you keep posting, you’re just telling him to trot fast, okay?”
The girl nodded enthusiastically. “Okay! Let me try it again.”
Now this whole exchange hardly seems fair. The mother was right, but factualness in her answer couldn’t change one important thing: the fact that she was a mother. For some reason, hearing something from a coach versus hearing something from a parent for some kids is the difference between swallowing a teaspoon of sugar and swallowing an onion. Whole.
Read more on The coach’s call–letting your coach do her job!…
Riding costs chucks of time, money and energy. Of all the sports a youngster could start, I figured it probably only outranks curling in the chances of it earning her a scholarship to college (but, it turns out I’m wrong! Check out my new scholarship blog post). And as parents likely notice, riding also puts their child in direct partnership with a very large and sometimes exceedingly foolish animal.
So why should you let your daughter ride?
Honestly, it is for those exact reasons listed above that I think anyone vaguely interested in riding should dive right in. Here’s why.
