She's a natural

Long before we had children, I made the comment to my mother-in-law that our poor children would the be the deprived cousins because we don't have a horse (and my sister-in-law does, as does her sister-in-law). Of course my MIL says, well, what if they want one? And, I, being the perfect (ahem, childless) parent said, too bad!

Fast forward a few years, and now Olivia is three & a half. She LOVES horses, so she finally got to ride my SIL's pony this last June. At that time, Nicole said to me, She's a natural on the horse, so balanced & not afraid, not like any of the other kids that I've had out riding.

The kids were back at their house in San Martin this last August when David & I went to my 15 year reunion. Again, Nicole was telling me how awesome Olivia was on Jazzie.

We just went down to visit David's sister & her family yesterday. Sadly Jazzie is up in heaven now (she was 27!). But Nicole has a new pony, Misty. Both Olivia & Brandon wanted to have a ride, so they got to go out & help groom her first. The bareback pad that they've used before was too big (Misty is what you picture when I say "pony", Jazzie was basically the size of a horse). So they got to use a real saddle. Again, Nicole is telling me how great Olivia is doing, & I got to see it too. She was up in the saddle, following directions perfectly, sitting back in the saddle, and not holding on to the saddle or reins at all! She was twisting in every which direction & leaning back down on Misty. I could see how comfortable & totally relaxed & trusting she was.

And all I could think was, how much are riding lessons going to cost me?!