Get Your Horse

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.  We spent the weekend with family, and indulged in a generalized avoidance of productivity.  Now we're back to the normal routine, and I'm busy negotiating the slippery slope to the holidays coupled with the busy season at my full-time job. 

Some of you have asked how we've been so successful introducing Beep to our animals.  Now I, the omniscient curator of the Cabbage Ranch blog, shall bequeath unto you, my beloved reader, my finest insights regarding cultivating within children a love of the animal kingdom.

I HAVE NO IDEA.

(And now you can go on to live your life knowing everything I do on that subject.  If there is ever any enlightenment on this blog, I can assure you it's a complete accident.)

As I've said before, we just folded Beep into our lifestyle and she was always along for the ride.  I usually did everything I normally would, as much as I could safely, with her in my arms or riding in a sling.  I showed her how to gently touch the animals, taught her about the textures of their hair and the warmth of their breath.  Early on, Beep learned what horse feed sounded like dropping into a bucket, and she's seen us clean stalls and sweep aisles a thousand times. 

The rest has been up to her.  Every day now, after all those months of input, she surprises me more by showing her understanding of the order of her world.  She knows which animals eat which feed, who gets haltered, what brushes to use, and which horses are safe(r) for her to be around.  She doesn't miss anything. 

I'm sure your kids are the same.  After all, they're small people but they're not stupid little blobs of babyhood; they're actually these incredibly observant knowledge sponges learning about the world around them.

At this rate, Beep's horsemanship will surpass mine by early 2014.
 
I'm thrilled and humbled by her ability to take on some of these processes without step-by-step coaching from me.  I actually had some unsolicited help in the roundpen lately.  I thought these videos might amuse you guys (or at least the grandparents, aunts and uncles), but I will ask you to withold judgment on my lunging techniques and constant drivel.  I was definitely in soccer mom mode.

We started out trotting Sam.

Horse training isn't always easy.




Finally, Sam is finished and caught!

You guys have a great Monday.