Well … it didn’t go well. At all.

Wynter seemed completely confused in her riding, which made Grace even more confused. And frankly, they looked like a hot mess of skills colliding in the arena.

I took lots of video, both of Wynter riding and of her trainer “training.”

I talked to Wynt on the ride home and gently suggested she should take time to study the video, listen to her trainer, and see what she could do differently the next day … her last ride with Grace — the decision making ride — is this the pony for her, or would we have to keep looking?

She seemed intent on what I was saying and determined to have a good ride the next day. Welllll … when we got home, she went to her room to change and seemed to come out as quickly as she went in. I asked if she studied the video and she told me, “not really.”

I was disappointed.

If this pony meant as much to her as she told me, why didn’t she care enough to put a little effort into having a better ride?

The next day, I picked her up from school and as we headed to her lesson, I gently prepared her for the fact that Grace may not be the pony for her and it may not work out. And if it didn’t, I fully trusted there was an even better pony out there for her.

She agreed.

I was so nervous as I watched her begin her lesson. Pretty much sitting on the edge of my seat.

And then.

Something happened.

She looked like a completely different rider from just the day before. I was shocked. Seriously shocked.

And then this …

Her first time jumping!! She’s been wanting to learn to jump so badly over the last month, but the time just hadn’t come yet. She still had things to learn to prepare for this next step.

I heard her trainer futzing with the standard cups {the things that hold the pole you jump over}, and I thought, “no … that can’t be for Wynt.”

Sure enough. She put the poles up and had Wynter pop over them. She even raised them once!

When her lesson was over, her horse put away, and we were walking to the car, I asked her what made such a huge difference in her riding from the day before?

She answered so matter-of-factually, “I prayed!”

She went on to explain, the day before when she went to her room to change {when *I* thought she should be studying her video}, she spent 20 minutes praying asking God to help her in her riding.

Sigh. It’s moments like these my children teach me a thing or two about faith.

Is there a time your child “out-faithed” you?

My Wynt was in another show this past weekend and had a great time! She’s really loving this and I’m so happy she’s found something to be passionate about in her little life.

Wynter usually rides a lesson horse named Ferbert. She rode him in her previous show and during her lessons. But there’s another little girl at the barn who also rides Ferbert, and since she’s smaller than Wynter, she rode Ferbert at this last show, while Wynter rode a different guy named Champ. She’d only had one short lesson on Champ a couple of days before the show and all things considered, Wynter held her own and did pretty good … the most important thing, of course, being that she had fun!

That was day one.

Below is day two. Looking at the pending weather forecast and timing of the event, the other family wisely decided to sit the second day out.

Which meant Wynter rode Ferbert, and this momma was out of bed in the dark and headed to the show in the rain!

It was cold, but fortunately the weather broke just as we were tacking up and heading into the show ring. It was another fun show and Wynter loved it!

Buuuut … we think the time has come for Wynter to be on her own mount. No, not buy. Taylor would have my head if I up and bought Wynter a horse!! Taylor had to work her behind off before she was able to get her own horse.

That said, we’ve been looking for a pony to lease for Wynter. And we may have finally found one! Meet Goodness Gracious … or Grace for short. {note: pleasssee ignore my corny comments! I never talk while filming for that exact reason. But I got so caught up in what Wynter was doing, I couldn’t help it!}

Funny story …

There was a TON of paperwork to be filled out just to get her shipped down here. As I was filling it all out, I sent another text to Wynter’s trainer asking the pony’s name and if she’s registered. “Goodness Gracious,” she answered. And, “No, she’s not registered.”

“Ohmyword! I know,” I replied. “Sooo many questions!”

“Ummm. LOL,” she answered. “Goodness Gracious is her name.”

*blush*

Wynter, of course, is in LOVE with Grace!! And honestly, they’re a super cute pair. Her trainer just isn’t toooo sure she’s the right pony for Wynter. We’ll know more after her lesson today … wish her luck??

And now the entire reason for this post!! Wynter has an app that does weird things like this to photos. She took the above photo, did some clever editing and texted me this message from Grace. Gotta love a kid with clever ambition!

What’s the craziest thing you’ve done to convince your parents of something?

The Lord your God is with you, a Powerful One Who wins the battle. He will have much joy over you. With His love He will give you new life. He will have joy over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17 {NLV}

Soooo … I mentioned recently that Wynter’s got the riding bug … badly! And last weekend she had her first show!

I am so proud of this girl. Not for the ribbons she won, but for the fear she conquered.

This performer of a girl wasn’t afraid of riding in the show. And her fears didn’t play out fully until we arrived at our accommodations for the night.

The show grounds were about 1.5 or so hours away, and Wynt needed to be there Friday afternoon for a training ride before the shows began on Saturday and Sunday. That said, I needed to pull the girls out of school a few hours early on Friday and we headed out of town from there.

I’d had an important call I needed to be on and figured the car ride would be the perfect time, so scheduled it for then.

Weeelllllll … I was so intent on my call, I missed our main exit, which threw us 45 minutes to an hour off course.

I finally got back on course, but when locating the show grounds, ended up in the middle of nowhere and couldn’t find my way back to the Interstate.

FYI … sometimes Siri doesn’t really know where she’s going!

I could see the anxiety starting to rise in my girl and she’d ask questions if we were going to make it on time, and find our way, etc., etc.. I assured her we would and with calls to her trainer, we’d be there soon and she’d still get her ride in for the day.

She did get her ride in and all went well. But as we left the show grounds and headed to our hotel, which ended up being a bit of a deserted motel … Wynt was a mess. The woman at the front desk was NOT nice. I had reserved two rooms, which I thought would connect, but did not, so wanted to cancel one of them and the woman would not {because I booked online}. Wynter’s the kid who takes those types of stresses on herself.

And as we made our way into our room, my girl was in a puddle of tears. She wanted to go home. She doesn’t like to travel and feels safest when she’s “safe and sound” at home.

I’ve only recently realized how deep and real her fears and anxieties are, and I’ve been doing what I can to guide and counsel her through them.

Hold that thought … let me first bombard you with photos! :)

{here she is heading out for her first class}

{in the show ring}

{her very first show as a three year old in comparison to her nine year old self}

{who’s that babygirl in there!?}

{typically in a show you want to stay a good horse length away from the rider in front of you. with kids, probably even more so! wynt and her pal kept ending up next to each other and wynter thought it was “so much fun!” “we would would just ride and talk to each other, it made it so fun!” i didn’t have the heart to tell her not to pair up next time!}

{piper and wynter circa 2006ish}

{the first day she took a 1st, two 2nd’s, and grand champion. the second day, she took the exact same ribbons! consistent she is!}

{little & big}

{taylor at one of her first shows. wynter at hers.}

{representin’}

Still with me?

Finishing where I left off … when we walked into our motel room that Friday night, Wynter broke down into a hot nine-year-old mess! Real fears and real anxieties, and this momma didn’t know what to do.

Knowing how real her anxieties are, do I tell her we can go home? Or do I encourage her to push through it and we stay?

Those two questions up there sound real easy to answer. They sound easy enough just typing them out at least, but oh how my momma-heart was a hot mess all itself that night in our little motel room!

After some of my own private tears over her pain, I decided to sit with her, pray with her, hold her, and let her know I’d walk through the next two days with her. I poured blessing into my girl and she came out a winner.

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Anyway.

After being absent from a barn for a while — given the fact that Taylor’s now old enough to get herself to and take care of herself at the barn — guess where I’ve been spending my time lately?

Wynter’s got the riding bug BAD! She counts down the days ’til her next lesson and would spend all day there if I let her!

She’s recently learned how to canter off the lead line … she was nervous to first learn, but now she’s loving it! Next up? Jumping!

{if you’re reading via a subscriber, please click here to video}

The photo below? Boy-oh-boy … if only I had a buck for every time I’ve seen this view of Taylor {left}!

And I’m thinking I should probably start collecting since I have a feeling I’ll be seeing this view of Wynter {right} very often in my future!

Wynter’s on the stage and in the upper right hand corner.

This one isn’t weather related, but it was their last song and one of the reasons I love, love, love their school!

Hunter had kindergarten graduation …

She’s the girl that “mouths” everyone’s part during the program and takes her own part very. very. seriously!

Walking across the stage to receive her diploma …

This is an awesome parody on the Grease song, “Summer Nights.” Definitely worth a listen. Hunter is hidden behind two other girls … if you locate the greenery, she’s almost directly under that.

And Taylor had her first show of the season. It was schooling show, which means it was very casual and a show to give horse and rider some experience in the ring together. I love seeing her riding again!

I mentioned a few posts ago that Taylor started riding again while we were in Ireland?  Well … not sure if I mentioned it, but so did her sisters.  They’ve been taking lessons every week for a little over a month now.  And I SO did not think it would happen … but it did … we bought them a horse.

One to share.

I’m still in the circle of “horse world” emails and one came across my desk recently that I couldn’t resist … so we went out and gave him a try.  “Sport” is a thoroughbred off the track.  He had an injury early on and was never raced.  He’s a sweet, sweet guy … he’s got enough “go” for Taylor, yet he’s gentle enough with the little ones.

We’re boarding at the same facility we left last year, and it was probably another good year before that, that I’d been actively involved.  It’s a pony club facility and we put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into it.  Taylor and I used to get up at the crack of dawn in the freezing cold to volunteer at the facility.  We’d go in before the sun rose to feed the horses and bring them outside to their paddocks.

If any of you are familiar with the horse world, you’ll agree … it’s a different kind of world all to it’s own.  Horse shows, preparing, packing, unloading, trailering {have I mentioned my cross-country trip hauling a horse to Kentucky? No? Another post then.}, poop hauling cleaning stalls, bathing, grooming … and on and on and on.  But I did it.  For my horse-crazy girl.

I was sad when she lost her passion, but also {selfishly} happy to have some time back for myself and my family.

As time consuming and crazy as the horse stuff can be … I wouldn’t take back any of those years.  Taylor shines when she’s on a horse and I look forward to seeing the other girls grow that way too …

So now?

Well … just look at ‘em!  They’re hooked.  Three of them are joining pony club {Hunter’s too young} and well … here we go again!

This post is linked up with Emily at Chatting at the Sky

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Taylor started riding when she was four years old.  We were on a trip to Ireland, decided to go horseback riding and Taylor was instantly hooked!  When we got home she started lessons almost right away and her passion for the sport only got stronger and stronger.

{Taylor :: 8 years old}

Taylor stopped riding about a year ago.  But on our recent trip to Ireland, guess what we did?  And guess who’s hooked?

It was beautiful watching her ride again.  It was just like old times … her whole face lights up when she’s on the back of a horse.  Seems she didn’t forget a thing …

Seems I didn’t either … there’s this feeling I get taking photos of her riding.  Somehow hard to explain, but almost like we’re one … her, the horse, and my lens.  I think my passion for photography got strongest when she was riding.  It was a great thrill to snap the shutter just as she was mid-air and flying over a jump.

I even had a riding website for Taylor and it’s still active if you care to take a look-see.  I browsed through it yesterday … and all those memories seem like mere moments ago.  It reminds me once again that we have them for but mere moments.  We need to remember to cherish, enjoy and make memories while we can …

This post is linked up with Emily at Chatting at the Sky

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