The girls made make-shift reins from a lead rope, a saddle pad from a blanket, and a cinch from a rope. During the past week or so they have progressively added more items and weight to Bailey's back - from a blanket first, then a stuffed animal, then an American Girl doll, then Olivia, and finally Sophia.
Bailey has been excellent, and seems proud and happy to give the girls rides. At this point, she walks around the penned in area only. The goal is to get her to eventually give rides in the pasture and then be able to do trail rides (there are some pretty trails and roads right around here).
This is something they have wanted to do for a long time. On the first day of homeschooling for the 2010-11 school year (on August 5th), they were successful with riding Bailey around the penned in area. It was a memorable first day of 2nd and 4th grade, to say the least.
On the second day of homeschooling, we took a field trip to the library. Olivia found a book on horse training (on her own), and Sophia read parts of it aloud on the way back home. It looks like it will be an interesting (and rewarding) year-long project both the girls can work on.
1 comment:
So wonderful. Horses have so much to teach us, and the therapeutic benefits are enormous. Our horses also loom large in our homeschooling. Many thanks for sharing your farm moment :-)
Blessings and light...
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