First Fall

Man. Lots of falling off of horses lately! Rather its in a saddle, bareback, or off a mechanical horse, falling is possible and it DOES happen. Believe me.

Speaking of falls, Taylor fell off of Pete today at the canter during a SaddleClub (Week #3) demo. They were cantering their courtesy circle before a jump and as Pete went by the barn door, Alex Whistler (the stable hand, stall cleaner, water bucket dumper, etc.) dumped a bucket of water outside and spooked Pete. He bolted sideways and Taylor fell off. She sat there on the ground for a minute (while I was running towards her) and then finally got up and I dusted off her jeans. She got right back on and did it over, and the second time Pete didn't spook at it.

Good boy, Petey Boy. ;)

Well, tomorrow is the last day of this year's Saddle Club. To celebrate, Tay and I are going to sleep over at Erica's apartment. Friday we will do Saddle Club, and Tay & I will go home. Later, Erica will pick us up at our houses and we'll go to dinner at someplace (we haven't quite decided yet) before going back to Victory to ride, watch movies, and EAT POPCORN! Awesome, right? Yes!

This week of SC was overall one of the best weeks that we've had. We have some awesome kids - and they all entertain themselves! While there's riding, the kids who aren't riding simply sit and take their tests, then hang around and entertain themselves for a good 15-20 minutes before they take their turn to ride.

Here's a few quick notes on the kids:

Isabel: 10 yrs old; good rider (good position, handles the horses well, listens when you tell her to do things, etc.)
Sophie: 6 yrs old; very sweet little girl; okay rider for her age and experience
Remington: 9 (?) yrs old; good rider; handles Zan well
Gabe: 11 yrs old; very, erm, interesting rider; gets sidetracked easily; talks a lot
Scooter: 11 yrs old; not-so-good rider (though he hasn't been riding very long); doesn't pay attention easily
Annika: 8 yrs old; good rider; handles April the best; good at going through obstacle courses
Faith: 10 yrs old; great rider; quiet person; good at pole bending with April or Pete
Savannah: 10 yrs old; okay rider; not very good at adjusting to different horses' needs
Andrea: 11 yrs old; okay-ish rider; pays no attention to instructions (ignores you); only rides April, other wise is out of control
Elizabeth: 10 yrs old; erm, bad rider; completely ignores you; doesn't follow instructions; etc;

Interesting group, huh? Yea no. =/

Anyways, who wants pics of ponies? I do!

There's your treat! ;) More pics of an AWESOMELY ADORABLE breed of pony coming up in a post! Anyone heard of a Norwegian Fjord Pony? That's the only hint I'm giving!