A Family that Rides Together...

And we don't mean bikes, although that is coming along nicely too :-)

The kids are riding horses again this summer and it hasn't been without some drama! Sasha, the wonderful pony Kai rides, was bitten by a rattlesnake a few weeks ago. Right in her soft, velvety muzzle, the poor thing. Sasha had to spend about a week at horsey hospital so rattlesnake venom must be really powerful stuff to have such an impact on such a big animal. Pretty scared of running into one now!

The kids made get well cards for Sasha, and are proud of them being displayed at the ranch:

I'm sure she likes drawings of airplanes in the clouds! 

Sasha was back in action yesterday for the kids' lesson and Kai had a great ride. A couple of weeks ago the ranch held a family horse show which meant that each student could bring a family member to ride. 2+2=4 means all the Fennells could ride together. We don't have too many photos seeing as we were concentrating on our riding so once we get the "official" photos from the show, we'll share them. For now, there are just a few.

That's Teia astride Mooney and Dad riding Mischa. Peach was so excited to ride with her Dad, known most of the time these days as "Best Bud." They seem to have really bonded lately over their mutual love of nutella. They were teamed up against team Mommy/Kai in a relay race which was alot of fun and I really don't remember who won (honest, I don't!) It was Greg's second ever time on a horse so he did quite well but I think quite appreciated the individual instructor and volunteers to make sure he didn't slide off. 

Each kid got to demonstrate their stuff. Here is Kai trotting on Tink (Teia's horse, reluctantly loaned to him while Sasha was on the mend):

At the end the kids were awarded their very first horse show ribbons. They were both happily surprised but we thought Teia might actually burst. (Notice the cutie patootie haircut?)

The fun didn't end after our ride. The kids decorated Tink with pink paint and glitter. 

They also enjoyed riding the pretend horses, although Kai was mostly delegated to being a bull rider. 

I think Teia is ready for steer wrestlin'

There were lots of jobs set up for the kids to do and Greg, being the helpful guy that he is, got busy bagging and labelling supplements for the horses. The kids weren't so interested in the "work" parts of the evening. 

It was a really great experience for everyone and I think we'd all like to sneak Sasha and Tink home to live with us. They'd have a better chance of being beaned by an avocado than bitten by a rattlesnake!