Urban Cowboy
The other day ‘little’ and I drove out to Lake Maria State Park for a hike around the lake and a tutorial on how to use a compass… ha ha. He was so good at it and it gave him such a purpose to walk. I often find that if we really hit on the PURPOSE of what it is that we’re doing ‘little’ is much more apt to get himself involved and stay interested **Note to self**. He really comes from the instant gratification generation, which I’m probably a part of as well, but we’re slowly working on that aspect of putting time into something and appreciating the work merely for the impending, albeit delayed sometimes, result. On our drive out to the Monticello, MN area we passed a bunch of farms with livestock. He was pretty excited to get out of the cities and have a different view. When we drove by a barn full of horses I was telling him about a few experiences I had when I was young riding them. He was sold immediately. “Joseph, we have to go riding soon!!”
I had no idea where to begin to look for a riding place. It turns out after polling my friends, that so many of them or their extended families had connections to horses that not only NEEDED to be ridden but would undoubtedly let us ride for free. One of the main ideas that I always try to stress on our activities is to not just go do stuff, but learn about what we’re doing and earn it, for lack of a better term. I don’t just want to bring him horse back riding and then head back. I want him to know about what he’s doing. What is like to take care of a horse, how do you determine a rowdy animal from a calm one, safety procedures… but most of all, what I was excited for us to experience together was to get to know our horses, feed them, brush them down, and really appreciate what they are. I thought that my attitude may be a little too ‘parenty’ and sucking the fun out of it for young ‘little’. Not the case at all. On his recommendation we brought apples and sugar cubes to give them, which apparently are two of their favorite food sources. When we went to brush them down he was sort of disappointied that we had to saddle them up and go for a ride. He enjoyed taking care of his horse, which was named Snap. He called him Ahhh Snap, which I thought was pretty funny.
When we first arrived and walked into the pasture we went to feed them our apples we had brought, and one of the horses who was supposedly calm and docile, bucked his head just a little. I think maybe he had a fly on his neck or something, but ‘little’ realized from that point that these beasts were a lot stronger than we were and they deserved our respect. He was a bit afraid when he realized this and remained extra cautious until he was reassured buy the barn hands that he was safe. Even then, he always made sure he had an out if they ever got rowdy. When I first fed one of them an apple about half of my honey crisp was consumed in one bite. He was scared that his hand would get bitten. I was so excited to see this transition occur in front of my eyes as we became more involved with them though. Through brushing Snap down to his obvious pleasure, riding him and understanding that the ‘horse’ preferred and was more comfortable being led around, and generally getting the feel for the demeanor of this beautiful animal ‘little’ became so relaxed and comfortable. By the time we left, you would have thought the kid was born on a farm… okay, not that far, but he was getting really comfortable and was super bummed when we had to take off.
It was such a great experience. The funnest parts for both of us were, stretching their legs out by trotting them a bit, climbing some pretty steep hills by gently coxing the timid animals up, and really getting a feel for a connection with them. I hope that we’ll have a few opportunities to head back there next summer.
