Sundays at the Barn

Sundays are barn days.

 I brought Champ in for Wren, while she got out all the equipment.

 Champ is especially ticklish and Wren is rightly concerned about his reaction to being brushed, so we reviewed the do's and don't's again. A crop is always a decent deterrent for Champ, plus it's handy in case he decides to get froggy.


I love how bendy his neck is. All the better to reach into your pockets for treats!

 Travis even went out and brought in Turkey all by himself! I was so proud! I was helping Wren get tacked up, and I looked down the barn aisle and saw Travis in the doorway, holding on to Turkey's lead. So cool!

 Noah was adamant that he groom Turkey, too, so I gave him a brush and let him go at it.

 Turkey's got MASSIVE feet (that really need a trim).

Noah insisted that he get to pick out Turkey's feet, so I helped him. Good grief, those legs are heavy.

 Personally, I think this should be Travis' new profile picture on Facebook.

 Actually, I really like this picture, too. Buddies.

 Up at the riding ring, the parents' gallery was in full attendance. It was definitely a "Dad's day" at the barn this afternoon.

Wren got up on Champ and they were ready to go. More or less. Wren did not like how crowded the ring was, and Champ just didn't feel like packing around a beginner today. It was a slow ride.

But, they got some work done. Any time in the saddle at Wren's age is a good thing, even if the lesson wasn't particularly spectacular.

Champ knows how to operate the ring gate, so he tried to, several times. Unsuccessfully.

 Then, at the end of the lesson, emergency dismount.....

 ....reins over the head.....

....and off we go.

Champ loves, loves, loves his treats. he also loves salt, so maybe I will bring him a bag of pretzels this week.

He does make some seriously funny faces when you play with his nose and lips.






All in all, a good lesson for Wren, and a fun time at the barn for the whole family. It's so good to see Travis working with Turkey, and being more at ease around these wonderful animals. It warms my heart to see Noah want to take an active part in this work, and I hope that he will want to ride like his sisters and mom when he gets a little older.

Every time we are at the barn, I wish we could be there more, and I wish I could ride more. It's a relentless desire.


 “You cannot remain unmoved by the gentleness and conformation of well-bred and well-trained horse – more than a thousand pounds of big-boned, well-muscled animal, slick of coat and sweet of smell, obedient and mannerly, and yet forever a menace with its innocent power and ineradicable inclination to seek refuge in flight, and always a burden with its need to be fed, wormed and shod, and its liability to cuts and infections, to laming and heaves.  But when it greets you with a nicker, nuzzles your chest, and regards you with a large and liquid eye, the question of where you want to be and what you want to do has been answered.” 
                                                          -- Albert Borgmann, Crossing the Postmodern Divide, 1992