Anna went to a birthday party for her friend Max today. We knew there was a farm theme, but who knew there would be REAL horses?! Anna was so excited to see them, she could hardly wait until it was her turn to ride. Then, surprisingly, when it WAS her turn, Anna decided (very dramatically) the horse was too big and she didn't want to ride it after all. After a bit more watching the three horses from the sidelines, and some coaxing from Mommy, who assured Anna that the horse named Mary Lou was shorter (all of half an inch!), Anna decided that she wanted to try again. She instructed Mommy to walk with her and to HOLD HER TIGHT (which Mommy did). Anna patted and loved on the horse, and when that first ride was finished she said, "Mommy, next time I can ride all by myself," which she did several times....waving at her friends and saying, "Look at me!"
After eating cake and ice cream, Anna ran to get some pinestraw from the flowerbed (thinking it was hay...yes, we live in the city!) to feed the horses. After the party, we walked around to the stable and looked at all the horses and even saw some riding lessons in process in the back (they were learning how to go over jumps). I have fond memories of being about 10 years old and learning those same things at Wimberly Stables (no longer in existence) during riding lessons once a week after school. It doesn't FEEL like that was more than 30 years ago!
Too bad we didn't have any carrots or apples to feed the horses.
