All horses deserve, at least once in their lives, to be loved by a little girl.

Nestled in the Mt. Diablo foothills are small ranches that offer horseback riding camps. Caity, Isabel and Aidan all wanted to learn how to ride horses when they found out their Mom use to ride horses when she was their age (that was hard for them to comprehend on a few levels). The kids went daily for a week and learned to saddle, mount, and ride the horse. In addition, they did barn chores (yes, incessant conversations on horse poop ensued).

Over the week, each child became attached to their steed. Isabel rode Chaps, Caity rode Shadow and Aidan was on Smoke. The kids loved the hum of ranch life which included dogs, ponies, a miniature horse and assorted cats.




With her tenacious spirit, Caity insisted on a horse (NOT a pony) and she did not want any help. The instructors do not push kids at this age; the goal if for them to be comfortable and will offer to use a lead line and walk beside them until they feel confident on their own. Our smallest child wanted command and control from the beginning. Caity had to put her whole body into a kick just to get the Shadow to walk.





Sweet Isabel has a deep love for animals and was more interested in their care than conquering riding skills. The size of the horse made her cautious and she wanted the extra reassurance of the instructor beside her. During the horse show on the last day of camp, Isabel played the showgirl as she dropped one of Chap's reigns to wave to the crowd and added her running commentary throughout.





Aidan was the one who surprised me from beginning to end. He caught me off guard when he told me he wanted to do Horse Camp with his sisters. He went on to quickly and easily pick-up the skills (most of the kids this age have had some experience). Toward the end of camp, Aidan's horse was spooked by a loud truck and took off in a full canter. Aidan hung on until the very end when he fell off. He got up, dusted himself off, got back on Smoke and did not think much more of it. This is a big deal as many kids will become hesitant or afraid, but Aidan took it in stride and was proud he was the first in his group to canter by himself.




A few more of my favorite pictures from the week. Below left is Patches who is a blue-eyed Arabian. The one on the right has a beautiful blue color to its coat that was amazing. I have never seen either and I look forward to sharing these with my brother Greg.


Caity communing with Shadow.