Cowgirls They Be!

On our quest to become horse people, the girls and I attended a Gymkhana event at a ranch not far from my house. What is gymkhana you ask? If you don't have to ask, well, that makes you smarter than me because I had to ask. But I didn't. You know when you think you know, and then the person you're talking to keeps talking and by the time you realize you're really not so sure what they're talking about you feel too dumb to backtrack? It was one of those moments. We won't talk about how many of those moments I have. You don't want to know. I don't want to think about it. Back to gymkhana- it's when you use a horse to run around barrels or poles in various setups to get the best time.

The ranch was amazing! The arena seemed about the size of a football field, and was beautifully maintained. There were several families that came and for the most part it was kids doing the riding. It was the first time that the event was held, but everyone wants to do it on a monthly basis. The whole point of it is to get the kids to get a taste for the sport in a controlled, secure environment. They used two different horses for the kids that were completely sound, and there was always an adult either leading or standing by while they were directed which way to go around the barrels. They did four different trails and the kids had a blast! I'm so grateful to have found a hobby that we can all do and love as a family, and that is healthy and fun for the kids.

There's something beautiful about a kid focused so wholely on a task. I wish I saw this much extreme attention paid to her homework. She was proud of herself for being able to handle "Cash" on her own after a bit.

Every time Sydney got a little freedom she wanted to start going faster, so she had to be kept in check a bit more. Syd has no fear. Not even a healthy paranoia. I have enough for all of us.

I love these quiet moments when they don't know they're being studied. This is a picture of a truly happy, contented little girl.

Punkin even got to ride all the trails and as you can see, she was pretty happy about it! She paid nearly no attention to what was going on because she was solely focused on how excited she was. You could see it bubbling up in her and she had total perma-grin!

All in all, it was a great time, and we can't wait for the next!