Pinto Being, SASS #4476 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Pards, Had a pretty cool experience today... Some friends are visiting us and they have two kids. The boy is 7 and the girl is 6. The young feller is all-boy and boisterous. He has never been around horses except for the brief time they visited last year. He was too wild & crazy for me to put him on any of our hay-munchers last year, but this year he seemed to be ready to listen to instructions. So, my bride dragged out the kid's saddle and I adjusted the cinch and stirrups. Put him on a 6 yr. old Paint that I'm workin' with; no bridle, just a halter with the rope looped over his neck so the boy would get a feel for havin' reins in his hands. Essentially, I shadow-led the hoss. He would follow wherever I went in the field. I made sure that the halter was never farther than a few inches from my hand in case I needed to grab him if the kid goosed him or whatever. The boy did alright. He got a big thrill out of it and gained an appreciation for what it is like to (sort of) have some control over an 1,100 lb., 15.4 hand hoss. Now, the girl. She is very short for her age and has Down's Syndrome. She screamed in terror a couple of days ago when her Dad lifted her up to the fence to pet the hosses. She threw a fit that gave anyone within earshot the impression that she was sure that the hosses were goin' to eat her alive! I was convinced that we were not goin' to get her up on one of our equines. Then, this mornin', we were at a ranch supply store and her Dad lifted her up onto the saddle of a full-size hoss model. Surprised the livin' heck out of me, but she loved it! So, when we got home and I saddled up Patch for the boy, she kept looking at her brother and back at Patch. Her gaze would shift from one to the other frequently and then her brother was up on the Paint and he was ridin' him in the field. She stuck mighty close to her parents while they stood in the field and took photos of the boy as he rode by. Meantime, my bride had saddled a 16.3 hand, long, tall drink of water we call Aquida. When my wife led this lanky son-of-a-gun into the field to allow the parents a chance to ride too, the girl cast some wary but excited looks toward my wife. Since I was walkin' the boy and Patch around the field, I didn't really notice what was goin' on with the group at the other end of the pasture. Boy, was I surprised when I turned at the fence line and spied the girl way up in the thin air on top of that big ol' Aquida hoss!! Why, her grin started at one ear and stretched to the other and she was stickin' her tongue out and tastin that high altitude air as if she had just sprouted wings and learned to fly! To top it off, she was wavin' her right arm in a motion that was the spittin' image of that high-speed wave that a rodeo queen gives to the crowd as she is barrelin' past the stands at a high-stakes rodeo! That li'l gal rode Aquida until my wife was plumb tired of walkin'. What a sight! Amigos, sometimes life is grand. I mean, REAL grand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Half Moon Hobo Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Downs kids are amazing!!!! HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles B. Gatewood SASS #48517 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Pinto, You got that right, life can be grand! Thanks for sharing this. Later pard, CBG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tascosa, SASS# 24838 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Pinto, I understand. I used to take my horse to Cita Canyon and put the MD kids on him and lead the horse around. Those kiddos looked for him every year. The look on their faces when we put them in the saddle was priceless! Tascosa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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