Michael and I are both really chuffed she's interested in horses because I think it's something really nice because it's fun. And children can learn responsibility later (grooming, feeding, etc); it hopefully keeps them out of mischief etc etc. But we didn't want to scare her off by putting her on such a large horse for starters. So today (!) we went to a pony riding school to look around. They said "Just come when you like, we have ponies available any time and you can rent one for 30 minutes". Great! So that was Josephine's special treat this week! She was so excited today she could hardly fall asleep at midday. After she woke up she was quite grumpy, but once I reminded her about the ride....full co-operation, smiles, you name it! We dressed, packed in some apples and off we went! Just down the road, so really convenient.
....but once she set eyes on her little pony called "Mona Lisa"....the rest was forgotten. She fell in love. Went straight up to it, carefully, but with confidence and stroked it and loved it.
So they saddled Mona Lisa up, fitted a riding hat on Jozie's head and left us to our own devices in the indoor riding hall (I decided to stay indoors as I had to manage Jozie on a pony whose temperament I didn't know and Evie in the baby pouch). And off we went!
Here's my brave girl who really had a great afternoon!
Mona Lisa proved to be a perfect-sized pony for Josephine ...not too daunting, but nevertheless a challenge! But she was however a little moody and stubborn! Not sure if she has some donkey genes there? Anyhow, it started well and she listened to me nicely as I led them around and around. After about 10minutes, ML decided she'd had enough and just stopped. After some cajouling, she jolted forth with a burst of energy and Josephine nearly fell off in the process! I think the bit in her mouth was annoying her some and she spent her time trying to get rid of it. She was also very wary of Evie in the pouch and kept her big brown eyes on her. At one point, she did another forward JOLT when Evie got hold of her mane. Evie, our little hair-freak, thought it great fun to get her little baby fingers stuck in there and I had to really loosen her grip finger by finger to free the poor pony. But all in all, it was a FAB experience and we'll definitely be going back. One last thing, it was so funny to see Jozie's legs were really shaking when I took her off. The kind of shakes one gets when the muscles have been working very long and hard. I guess she must have been gripping like mad!
just before going home.
