For as long as I can remember Grace has loved horses and dogs. We have made it clear that as long as she lives under our roof we will not have a dog or a horse. That hasn’t stopped her from adding a dog and/or horse to the white board on the refrigerator where we list things we need to buy (ex. Eggs, milk, baking soda, dog.) Dog shows up almost daily. Grace has checked out every book the local public library and her school’s library has on dogs and horses – many of them more than once. Her room is decorated in horses and she owns multiple toy horse stalls, plastic horses and dogs. She spends some time with my brother’s dogs which helps alleviate her need for a dog but not the horse.
Last fall Grace’s Girl Scout troop went on a weekend camping trip to Camp Cardinal, a Kentucky Girl Scout camp that focuses on horse back riding. I went on the trip to spend some one on one time with Grace and to see if extended contact with actual horses would dissuade Grace’s interest. I was curious, how would she handle the smell, dirt, etc? On that trip she was very unhappy about the bugs in the bath house but nothing about the horses made her love them any less. The first time on the horse I watched for several minutes looking for a reaction. After about a half an hour and no smiles I was sure this was the end. When she got off the horse she immediately ran to me with such enthusiasm I realized I was wrong. I had just seen a new side of Grace – complete focus and concentration. Grace elected to write about her first time on a horse (other than a pony ride at the pumpkin patch) for her third grade personal narrative. I have typed in her work as written.
Trotting
By Grace Kelly
Neigh, Neigh said the horse as I walked to it. I was very nervous. I thought I was going to fall off. I was very high off the ground. When I got on it felt like a hundred feet up. This was the first time I got to trot on a horse.
As I started walking my leader asked some questions. I could hear the horses hooves walking against the field. Soon I found out the horses name was Playboy! Then we started playing some games. We played Simon says. As we started walking faster I heard the head of the horses say we were going to trot on a horse.
I started walking faster and faster. I was very scared because I had never trotted on a horse. The helmet felt itchy against my head. Somebody started talking about how to stop and turn around. I heard my mom calling me and her camera snapping pictures. Finally we got to trot.
I waited for my turn to trot. I say people in my group go up and down. Finally it was my turn. My leader started running beside the horse. My stomach flipped flopped. It was fast paced, bumpy and scary, I stopped what a relief. I got back in line. Suddenly I heard the leader say I needed to stand up while trotting!
After I stood while trotting I quickly got off the horse. I started walking back to the campsite. My mom asked what I thought about it. It was awesome! Even thought it was two months ago I still remember trotting on a horse like it was yesterday.
Once it was clear that Grace wanted to spend more time with horses her Nana looked into riding lessons as a gift for Christmas and her birthday. She found a great farm in Versailles, Kentucky where Grace started taking lessons in January. http://www.bluewillowfarm.org/ It was immediately clear that she was a natural and that she loved it. Grace is transformed on a horse. The child that can not sit still through a meal is composed, focused, and driven.
Grace now has a lesson once a week. She had her first show in April. She is riding English Saddleseat on an American Saddlebred and competes as part of a lesson program at academy horse shows. During her first show in April she competed in two classes and placed fourth and second. The other girls at the show had all shown at several competitions and had been taking lessons much longer than Grace so Grace did very well. We look forward to seeing how she does this coming fall where we hope she will experience a more level playing field.
Checking on Sofie before her first horse show
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