Day 242

Friday

So, it's official. We won't be going to State Fair next weekend. A whole bunch of things are working against us, the most important one being that we can't get ahold of our farrier and so we couldn't show Harry anyways because he only has half a set of shoes on right now. Plus, Jane found out some stuff that made her not want to go either, so I guess we'll just all stay home and have a picnic that day or something.

But today was so much fun. All summer I've been babysitting three kids, Dana (7), Nina (6), and Steven (2). Their mom works with my mom and they've been asking if they could come see my horses. We all finally settled on today and they came along and so did another girl my mom works with. It was so cute! Nina (the girl) absolutely demanded that Nina (the horse) be hers for the day, since they have the same name and are the same age, so she stayed with my brother all day and helped him brush Nina and give her a bath. Dana was kind of scared, so she stayed with me and Brie all day. Brie may be a lot of things, but she's amazing with kids. She never once misbehaved. We were hesitant to put Dana on Brie, since Nina was taken, but then we remembered that Brie is the one who taught my brother and I how to ride when we were only a bit older than Dana, and Brie's motherly instincts proved still intact. Dana was scared at first, going around the arena, but after the first pass, she didn't want to get off!

Nina (the girl) looked so cute on Nina (the horse). She was fearless and had the look on her face that showed it! She made my brother run with her around the arena and across the soundboard and was loving every second of it! Then she hopped off and got on Brie and made me do the same thing! Needless to say, it's much harder on the ground than in the saddle!

Steven fell asleep before he got to ride anyone, since he was so exhausted from chasing Paco's dog around the back and feeding peppermints to all of the horses. He would pet Harry's nose and his hair and then squeal with delight! Such an adorable sight.

After the girls were done and Steven was fast asleep, the kids' mom and the other girl took turns on Nina (the horse) in the arena while my mom rode Brie. They sure looked like they were having fun! It's so great to share the love of horses with others.

But! Harry was the only one who made the day not turn out to be perfect, as today was the first time ever my mom had to emergency dismount him. I don't know what his problem was, but he was not having work at all. Maybe because today was Friday, I don't know. But he is in for it tomorrow.