Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Horse Post

Last week, I went to “Trot Away” which is a place where you can ride horses. Trot Away is on the end of a bumpy road by the American School. They have different ponies, a baby horse (a six day old foal), big horses, donkeys, a small dog, a black cat that plays with the dog (they like to be silly) and two teachers.
Before my lesson, I got my helmet in the tack room. My friends Sean and Kim showed me where to get the helmet. We tried every single helmet on me until they found the right one. It doesn’t have a buckle, it has a stretchy strap around my chin. It is dark brown on the top and red on the inside. It is a little bit loose because once it fell off of my head when I was riding super fast. A horse can: walk, trot, canter or gallop. Galloping is going as fast as you can go! Sean said I was almost cantering!

After I got my helmet, I brushed my horse with my friends helping. My horse’s name was Gandolf. The head of Gandolf was taller than my mom!
To groom, you use a brush, a plastic brush, and you brush on the fur and even the mane. Brushing is called grooming. Finny did it, too. You will see a funny picture. Finny was kind of scared of the horses!
The guys that worked there, they get the horse ready by putting on the bridle and the bit. They put the saddle and blanket on and fix the stirrups so they are the right size. Next, there is a tall block that you stand on and down below, your horse is there.! You just get down the two stirrups, you put your foot on, and put your knee on, pull yourself up, swing your foot over and... off you go into the woods!! One of the guys was holding my reins so all I had to do was to hold on and balance. It was super fun!

3 comments:

Hank said...

Owen, I saw you were wearing your fire boots while you were riding your horse. What do horses eat in Africa?

From looking at the pictures, Finny looks so much bigger than before you left! Mom also thinks that you look bigger too, and a lot like your mom.

Love HANK to Owen.

Teresa said...

Riding a horse was something I always wanted to learn when I was a kid. I even went to horse camp for a week for two summers. I am so glad to see you wore a helmet. Will you be going for lessons on a weekly basis? Were you really hot in all that gear?
Mrs. Goethe

Bijan said...

Hi, Owen. This is Bijan. I liked the picture of the horse and the baby horse. I hope you're having a fun time. Are the horses nice? And have you seen any animals besides the ones you told us about?

Your friend, Bijan