Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466 
|
Post by Terry on May 6, 2014 18:29:35 GMT
My granddaughters have always loved horses. In fact one of Megan's (my oldest granddaughter) first words was "Zena". She used to call every horse she saw, Zena! It was so cute!  Megan has always loved to get up close to the horses and pet them whenever she could. My youngest granddaughter, Kaci, loves to see the horses, but has always been afraid to be too close to them, so we've tried to work on that with her every chance we got.
When Megan was little she would ask us to put her up on the horses, so if we were out with the horses we would sit her on Sis's back for a few seconds every now and then. Sis always stood perfectly still. Then, when Megan was 4 years old, my son brought her over to the house for a visit on my birthday. I was just getting ready to go for a ride, so Megan stood with her Daddy and Grandpa and watched me ride. Pretty soon she was asking if she could have a turn, so when I finished my ride I brought Sis into the roundpen, took off her bridle, put on her halter and lead, and my son put Megan in the saddle. She was so excited! Sis and I then got to give my granddaughter her very first lead-line pony ride! What a wonderful experience that was! At one point as I was leading her around the roundpen Megan got so excited about being a cowgirl that she started kicking Sis to make her go faster.  Fortunately my husband saw what Megan was doing and got her to stop. Kudos to Sis, though, she knew better and just ignored the kicks and stayed with me at a walk. Here is a picture my son took of me and Sis getting ready to give Megan her very first pony ride. A memory I will always cherish!
A couple weeks ago my son and his daughters were here and we were outside playing. Megan (now 6 years old) asked if she could go see the horses, so I took her over to the gate to visit them. Well, that's not what she wanted. She informed me that she wanted to go in with the horses! Knowing how scared Kaci gets being that close to the horses, I told Megan to check with her dad first to make sure it was ok. He said sure, so we all went into the paddock with the horses (including Kaci). Kaci stayed glued to her daddy's legs for a while, but Megan walked right up the hill towards the horses all by herself, and the horses met her halfway. They both dropped their heads down to Megan's level and stood there while she petted them. It was so sweet! They followed her back to where the rest of us were standing, and Kaci got more nervous, so we were all keeping a close eye on Kaci (she's only 2 1/2) to make sure she was ok. Megan decided that she wanted to sit on Sis, so despite the fact that she was really dirty, my son popped Megan up on Sis's back. Then Megan decided that she wanted to go for a ride! I had my son get her down while I went to grab the halter and lead, and then I lead her around on Sis bareback for the first time! Much to our surprise, Kaci was watching her big sister ride and decided she wanted to do it too! So we got Megan down and my son put Kaci up on Sis. I was just going to have Sis stand still to let Kaci get used to the idea of sitting on her, but Kaci started saying "walk, walk!" I looked at my son and he said ok, so I walked Sis a few steps while Kaci rode her bareback! Talk about an exciting moment! Just like that she went from being afraid to be close to the horses, to suddenly wanting to ride! It was awesome!! When my son got her down, she and Megan both started asking to ride again! This time I suggested that he have them ride double, that way Megan could hold onto Kaci, and we could walk a little farther, so that's what we did! Another day of awesome memories made with my granddaughters!
Unfortunately, since we had just been outside playing and I didn't know the girls were going to want to ride, I didn't have my camera with me, but fortunately my daughter was here too, and she took some pictures with my son's phone for us.
Megan on Sis 
Kaci's first time ever sitting on a horse! 
Both of my beautiful granddaughters on Sis 
My son now lives with us, so his girls are here at our house every other weekend, which means as the weather gets nicer we'll have more and more opportunities to enjoy more horsey time together. I'm such a lucky grandma to be able to share my love of horses with my granddaughters! They are my little cowgirls in training! 
|
|
|
|
Post by horselady on May 6, 2014 20:17:47 GMT
such memories and these are the first of many. so get ready grams. and sis looks rock solid .  |
|
mingiz
Junior Member
Los Lunas, NM
Posts: 3,320
|
Post by mingiz on May 6, 2014 20:54:56 GMT
Hey Terry remember the pony!!!!  Now is the time to convince Nate we need a pony for the kids. 472536Glad that you get to have the kids with you more often. |
|
Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
|
Post by Terry on May 6, 2014 21:31:07 GMT
horselady, I am definitely looking forward to making lots more wonderful memories with my granddaughters, horse-related and otherwise. I love getting to spend so much time with them, and I love that they both seem to share my love of horses! Neither of my kids have any interest in horses, but in all fairness to them, I didn't have horses when my kids were growing up. Maybe if I had, things would be different, but I'm definitely enjoying spending horsey time with my granddaughters.
As for Sis, yes, she has definitely been rock steady with the girls, and I couldn't be more proud of her for it! She likes to break out the ponytude with me from time to time  , but that's ok, I can handle it.
mingiz, I am still hoping my husband will eventually agree that the girls need a pony of their own! I keep "window-shopping", and I've even found several nice sounding prospects (one of them that sounded absolutely perfect was in Missouri), but he hasn't given in yet. Maybe as the girls get older, spend more time here, and show more interest in riding, maybe then he'll finally give in. Especially now that we've gotten Kaci past her fear and interested in riding, I'd love to have a pony that's a little more their size that they can learn to groom, lead, ride, etc. |
|
nhg
Junior Member
Posts: 2,429
|
Post by nhg on May 7, 2014 1:38:04 GMT
Sweet! The girls are beautiful and Sis is a rock star! You must be so happy. I hope I get grandkids some day and I'll make sure they get a pony.
|
|
mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
|
Post by mistersmom on May 7, 2014 12:10:17 GMT
What wonderful stories! It's so nice that you can have that common bond with your granddaughters and have many more memories to make in the future. Maybe a lead-line class is in store for the girls???
|
|
Lipizzan
Junior Member
Europe, Croatia
Posts: 2,572
|
Post by Lipizzan on May 7, 2014 12:11:59 GMT
What a beautiful horse, and gorgeous children. I bet you were very happy. I hope one day my son or daughter will love horses as much I do.
|
|
nhg
Junior Member
Posts: 2,429
|
Post by nhg on May 7, 2014 15:33:18 GMT
I'm so grateful that I have a daughter that's just like me. She loves horses, dogs and cars. I'm not so much into cars anymore but it's cool to see her working on her own vehicles and to be able to understand what she's talking about when she's working on them.
|
|
|
|
Post by shadowlark on May 9, 2014 3:35:29 GMT
Awww what sweet pics! Your grand daughters are beautiful and Sis is awesome for taking care of them! Can't wait to see more pics as summer progresses!
|
|
mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
|
Post by mistersmom on May 9, 2014 11:58:50 GMT
I just noticed how different Sis's color is in the winter compared to her summer coat! What color is she?
|
|
Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
|
Post by Terry on May 9, 2014 14:03:04 GMT
In the current pictures, Sis's color is dirt! LOL  She was filthy!
Seriously, though, Sis is a POA. She is normally white with brown and reddish-brown spots and roaning all over, and a nice butt blanket, but every winter her color gets much darker. She really looks like a different horse in the winter! At this point she still isn't finished shedding out, so she's still got a lot of her darker winter fur, plus layers upon layers of dirt, because she's a mud queen!  It was finally warm enough for me to give the horses their first bath of the season on Wednesday, and it's amazing how much better Sis looks now. Almost completely back to her normal summer colors. Let me go see if I can find some better pictures of her for you (pictures that weren't taken with a cell phone)... |
|
Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
|
Post by Terry on May 9, 2014 14:29:51 GMT
OK, here is a picture of Sis in her usual summer colors. 
Here is a picture of Sis in her winter colors. 
Depending on the season, she is a horse of a different color!
|
|
mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
|
Post by mistersmom on May 9, 2014 15:22:35 GMT
I thought she looked like a red roan to me after looking more at the pictures. Whatever color she is, she is beautiful. The pally that I had would turn almost  white in the winter and then would shed to a beautiful, deep golden color in the summer. Is that Zena? She is looking good as always! |
|
Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
|
Post by Terry on May 9, 2014 16:52:20 GMT
Yes, that is our beautiful Zena girl. |
|
Lipizzan
Junior Member
Europe, Croatia
Posts: 2,572
|
Post by Lipizzan on May 10, 2014 16:33:34 GMT
Zena looks hugeeeee on that picture. How tall is she?
|
|
Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
|
Post by Terry on May 10, 2014 18:24:41 GMT
LOL, yes, Zena always looks huge, because she is (especially compared to Sis)! Zena is between 15.3h and 16h tall, weighs approximately 1250 pounds, and is built like a tank! You'd think she was part draft horse by looking at her. She's the biggest, silliest, sweetest puppy dog you could ever hope to meet, though.
|
|
Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
|
Post by Terry on May 28, 2014 0:20:54 GMT
I got to enjoy some horsey time with my granddaughters again yesterday. I got Sis out and rode her myself first. I've been working with her on some disrespect issues she developed last year and I think we've got it licked now. She was an absolute dream! She was back to being my sweet, respectful, attentive, lovable pony again! I am so pleased!
I rode first. 
Next up was Megan's turn. She was so cute, she wanted to get up in the saddle by herself. She got up on the mounting block, but wasn't sure what to do next. Grandpa had to help her a little bit, but she was finally able to climb up there mostly on her own. 
Since she was wearing her little tiara all weekend, Grandpa kept asking her to do the princess wave.  
Next it was Kaci's turn to ride. She is definitely over her fear of the horses now! When her daddy asked her if she wanted to ride the horsey, her response was a resounding Yes!! (Now if we can get her to stop being so camera shy. ) 
After Kaci was done riding alone the girls wanted to ride double again, so that's what we did. 
They both had so much fun! (Megan told me later that one of her favorite things about coming to our house is getting to ride the horsey.)
After the girls were done with their rides I was getting ready to take Sis back to the barn to untack her, when my son surprised me by hopping on Sis for a ride himself! I had no idea that he wanted to ride! Since I didn't feel like putting Sis's bridle back on her at that point, I just tied the lead rope to make some reins and let him go for a ride.
It looked a little funny having my super tall son ride my little horse, but he seemed to enjoy himself, and Sis did great for him. 
By the way, Nate finally agreed to let me get a pony for the girls! Now if I can just find a good one!
|
|
mingiz
Junior Member
Los Lunas, NM
Posts: 3,320
|
Post by mingiz on May 28, 2014 0:55:58 GMT
I knew he would give in...  Yes there are a lot of ponies here for sale.. Some cheap too.. I'll keep an eye out for you..  |
|
Terry
Junior Member
Central Illinois, USA
Posts: 1,466
|
Post by Terry on May 28, 2014 1:29:30 GMT
Thank you! |
|
nhg
Junior Member
Posts: 2,429
|
Post by nhg on May 28, 2014 1:47:54 GMT
I LOVE the pictures! Sis looks like a full sized horse when you ride her but she looks so tiny compared to Zena.
|
|
Megan has always loved to get up close to the horses and pet them whenever she could. My youngest granddaughter, Kaci, loves to see the horses, but has always been afraid to be too close to them, so we've tried to work on that with her every chance we got.
Fortunately my husband saw what Megan was doing and got her to stop. Kudos to Sis, though, she knew better and just ignored the kicks and stayed with me at a walk. 
Now is the time to convince Nate we need a pony for the kids. 472536Glad that you get to have the kids with you more often. 
, but that's ok, I can handle it.
She was filthy!
It was finally warm enough for me to give the horses their first bath of the season on Wednesday, and it's amazing how much better Sis looks now. Almost completely back to her normal summer colors. 
white in the winter and then would shed to a beautiful, deep golden color in the summer.
Yes there are a lot of ponies here for sale.. Some cheap too.. I'll keep an eye out for you.. 