Spring Break Horse Camp

March 22-26 was Spring Break here for the public school children. For the past two years, Miss Ky has participated in the Spring Break Horse Camp at Sac River Stables, and wanted to do so again this year. Reed joined her for the first time this year, and loved it!
Fortunately, they are all about safety, and take great measures to ensure the children have been properly trained before turning them loose on the horses. That meant that with Reed being the newby on the block, he never rode without a counselor directly with him. And they were always required to wear riding helmets.
A couple of days it rained, one day most of the day, so the campers rode in the inside arena. This didn't excuse them from their daily chores, however, of feeding the animals and scooping poop. I thought perhaps Ky would have grown tired of that but, if so, it failed to "disenthuse" her from participating. (I coined a new word and kindof like it, don't you? I'll bet you know what I mean, anyway!)

Because Ky is older and has had some experience "under her belt," she was allowed to ride solo this year in the indoor arena. She still had a counselor with her on the trail ride. (Not surprising what with the litigious society we live in, yes?)



As evidenced by the following photos, Ky has grown considerably over the three years that she has participated in spring break horse camp.


My d-in-law Sara told me that after I dropped Reed off on Friday (the final day of the camp), he said, "Mommy, I'm kindof sad." She asked why and he answered, "Because I think I'm really going to miss horse camp tomorrow." The camp is thirty minutes one way from our home, so I spent two hours every day just driving them to and from camp. It would not have been worth it had they not enjoyed it so much.

Having grown up on a cattle ranch/farm in WY, and having learned to ride a horse almost before I learned to walk, I truly love horses, so our grandchildren come by it honestly, even if their horse-riding experiences are, from necessity, slightly more conjured or artificial. I thought this would be a good place to include some of my favorite people/equine photos. Pictured in this first photo are my sister Lynda and me (with the straw hat). We look pretty happy to be on our horse, don't we? See what I meant when I stated earlier that I learned to ride almost before I learned to walk?
In this next photo are my Mother and my sisters Donna (L) and Sharon (R). They both still love to ride and, in fact, Donna has spent many hours (and, I'm afraid, a few bones) breaking horses. I think we've all convinced her to stick to her horse-whispering and riding for the rest of her life. We like having her around too much for the risky stuff!
These next three photos feature three of my favorite cowboys: my brothers, Mike, Joel, and Bobby. They elicit many fond memories!


Finally, the cowboy featured in these last two paintings (yes! paintings, not photographs!) is my cousin Steve. The artist is Steve's wife, western artist Ann Hanson. I love Ann's artwork as it also stirs many fond memories of life on the ranch.
It has been fun to see my love for all things equine being shared by our grandchildren. Gingersnap also loves to ride but I guess has outgrown Spring Break Horse Camp and is on to preparing to take her driver's test. Go Britt!

Home again, Home again . . .

What a whirlwind summer this has turned out to be. Kyra and I left on July 7 and flew to WY to spend a couple of weeks with Daddy, et al, while Steve ventured to Canada and then to Mexico, to exercise the fish in both locations. A couple of things happened in WY that might be worth mentioning: (1) Daddy went swimming for the first time in a long time, not once, but TWICE! And he loved it. He told several people that he discovered that his legs work afterall.
(2) I had a little accident that put a crimp in my style. Thankfully, Kyra was a great sport about being my "legs" for many errands. Daddy had wanted to "go for a walk," which translates to his riding his electric scooter and "walking" us. I'd had a little flareup of the tendonitis in my left ankle, so thought I would be wise and protect it. I took Sharon up on the offer of her 10-speed bike. The concrete path along the river that we "walked" isn't wide enough to allow turning around except in the designated areas. We had gone down, turned around, and were returning when I glanced back over my shoulder to check on Dad and Kyra. BIG MISTAKE! The front tire of my bike went off the right side of the path. I over compensated and pulled it back and it "flipped" me back onto the concrete. OUCH!!!!! I sprained my bad ankle (thankfully; I don't need TWO bad ankles), cracked a couple of ribs, and also learned yesterday that I chipped off a bit of bone in my lower right leg. My physical therapist says I'll "be a new woman in six weeks' time," and three of those weeks have passed so I'm quite optimistic. So much for PRUDENT! I was initially worried about how I was going to get back home to MO, but realized after a couple of days that all I would need was transfer assistance at the Denver airport. It all went fine.
My sister Donna picked Miss Ky and I up at the Billings airport (and returned us two weeks later). Donna was getting ready to go for a pioneer trek, along with Jodee and Ashton, and we had fun shopping for "pioneer attire" at the Goodwill Store in Billings. Kyra had fun trying on some fun shoes.
(3)Kyra wanted to see the Billings Temple and Donna (wise woman that she is) was so good to make a special trip not only "by" the Temple, but to let Kyra go in the front entry. I told the man at the front desk that Kyra is a "temple-going wannabe; she just needs to wait two more years." Thank you, Donna!
(4) Kyra LOVES horses and all that goes with it (she has even been a good sport about the grooming aspects and scooping poop), so she was delighted that her Aunt Sharon and her Aunt Donna went out of their way to ensure she had chances to ride while in WY. Uncle Mike even showed up unexpectedly from ID and joined them for the ride.


(5) Kyra loved spending time with some of her cousins. Aunt Jan arranged for her to spend time with her granddaughters at her home, and Bailee (same age as Kyra) spent a night and a day with Kyra and me at Dad's home. It was so fun to watch them play together, and it brought back many "cousin memories" for me, too.and (6) last, but certainly not least important, Kyra and I got to attend Jill Miller Sylvester's baby shower! With our living in MO, it's not often that we are able to attend these important family events, so we felt pretty special. Jill was radiant, and the shower (given by her friend Jill Weeks Wright and her Mom Francie) was so fun. Yummy treats and fun decorations, so appropriate for the "baby girl in waiting."