Wordless Wednesday - Strength

"All things in life are temporary.  If things are going well enjoy it, they will not last forever. If things are going wrong don’t worry, they can't last long either."

~Author Unknown

My strength lies here...

In their smiles...

In their passion for horses and all things horse related....

In their hugs and snuggles and endless imaginations...

My strength lies in motherhood....in my ability to protect, forgive, and love unconditionally.

Everything absolutely changes with motherhood...priorities, responsibility, schedules, finances...

But the thing that changes the most - is the perception of LOVE.  They are walking, breathing, laughing, climbing, bickering, whiny, joyous, bodies of LOVE.

And I am stronger for it.

She jumps horses at Laurel Valley Ranch

Camdyn's affinity for horses spans back at least a year and half, and when you are freshly 6 years old, a year and a half is a big chunk of your life.  She's been taking private riding lessons since October.  It's something that I thought would eventually wear on her, like swimming lessons and dance classes, and those crowded gymnastics classes at the Y.  I thought it would run its course.  Well, it still is, and it's the one and only thing in life that Cam has ever been fiercely dedicated to.

Hi.  Let me introduce you to Market.  (Initially I wrote Meet Market...but that sounds odd...like meat market, and y'all we are at the ranch not at the gym).

Market is a registered American Quarter Horse, and Cam has only ridden her twice.  It turns out that her trot is smooth and her temperament trusting. 

It turns out that Market is Cam's new favorite horse (so sorry Molly...baby girl is outgrowing you).

Cam's perfecting her 2 point position, she has her crop in hand.  She's focused on the goals ahead.  She's about to turn the corner...

Focus and determination painted across her face, much the same as Market bears her blaze.  She will do this...

And she does; without fear, or doubts, or hesitation.  She jumps.  She's locked in 2 point, hands grasping mane and her crop, momentum forward, looking through Market's ears and focused on the end of the course.  2 jumps completed, one right after the other. 

This is her success. 

Actually, no, this is our success.  Our success in raising one extremely independent, bold, and fearless little girl. 

A little girl who is able to start recognizing her dreams.  A little girl who has parents who support her and her passions even though there are moments where it absolutely scares the bejezus out of me (and yes, she's already fallen off a few times).

And this part of parenthood...you know the part where your children start becoming little people, with long term goals, feelings that they adequately communicate, and real accomplishments...makes me so excited about what the future holds. 

We are going to tackle these rails together, Camdyn.  One hoof in front of the other, eyes focused on the goal....we are going to do it.

Wordless Wednesday - The Love of Horses

"The daughter who won't lift a finger in the house is the same child who cycles madly off in the pouring rain to spend all morning mucking out a stable."

~Samantha Armstrong

A Horse Named Molly - Riding Lessons at Laurel Valley Ranch

Back in August Camdyn attended horse camp at the ranch.  She loved every second of it and has been pining to go back ever since.  After having a solid week of "STAR" and "Double STAR"
behavior, we rewarded her with a semi-private horse back riding lesson. 

For her first lesson she chose to ride her best friend, Molly.  Camdyn loves this horse, and she talks about buying her one day.  It took the instructor, Camdyn, and the two other little girls in her lesson, the better part of 45 minutes to tack their horses.

Here Camdyn leads Molly into the lesson arena.  She leads the horse around as effortlessly as one would lead a puppy on a leash.  She seems so small to be guiding such a large animal.

Camdyn is learning to ride English.  This was not my choice for her.  I thought she would have a much easier time riding Western, although it was not my call to make.  Camdyn is interested in dressage and therefore riding English is necessary.  Amazing to me, that at 5 3/4 years old she is planning for the future.

Now, my knowledge of horse back riding is limited to several years of trail riding while camping, so feel free to correct my mistakes (LeeAnn).  Cowboys ride Western, their saddles have a horn, and they steer the horse by holding the reigns (which are knotted together) in one hand.  English saddles don't have a horn, and require the rider to hold the reigns in two hands and steer the horse more like a car, as Cam is doing below.

Cam thoroughly enjoyed her first lesson.  She sometimes gets frustrated with the terminology (which is also new to me) and figuring out her left from her right which for some reason is more difficult from the perspective of the saddle.  For example her instructor will say "Camdyn drop your right lead and move that horse to the rail."  What?  Yeah, I can barely figure out what that means, so for a five year old, it's a lot to process.  But, she'll get there and she's loving every moment of it.  Much to my surprise, she even enjoys the barn work (sweeping and mucking stalls) which she is required to do after her lesson. 

When I watch her lesson there is that piece of me that just can't get comfortable.  There's that nervous energy that I feel about the unpredictability of animals and the reasoning/judgment skills of a 5 year old.  But, there is also that swell in my heart, as I watch my little girl do something that she genuinely loves.  Her toothless smile is bigger when she's in that saddle, her energy level peeks as we head to the barn, I can see that this is her passion. 

What I once viewed as a fleeting fascination, that would dwindle just as her adoration for elephants and Shrek has, is now becoming a piece of who she is.  This is no longer a phase that she will out grow. 

Camdyn can not fathom a world without horses, especially a horse, named Molly

She Did Horse Camp at Laurel Valley Ranch

It's not really news that my girls love horses.  I mean, they really, really love horses.  We drive by them daily, we read about them at home.  We watch Horseland on repeat, and my two year old can identify horses by their coat color, "that's a Palomino, that's an Appaloosa, that's a Paint."  And likewise, I know more about horses than I did a few years ago.

When we decided that Cam would finish pre-school at the end of July, we needed a camp or activity for her to do for a week.  I gave her several options, gymnastics camp, dance camp, or horse camp.  Naturally, she chose horse camp.  So, I got in touch with the the Ranch where she had her birthday party last January.  I was a bit concerned that Camdyn might be on the young side to participate, but I was assured that they have children come to camp that are younger than 5 1/2. 

After trading a few very informative and encouraging emails with the owner, Kathy, I decided to register Camdyn for 3 days of horse camp.  I decided that going Mon, Wed, Friday, would offer her a day of rest from the intense Florida heat and humidity in between her horse camp days.  Approximately $275 later and she was all set to go.

We arrived at LVR at about 8:45 on Monday morning.  Cam was beaming ear to ear and was 10 kinds of excited about the horses already.  I, on the other hand, had knots in my stomach and 10 thousand questions running through my mind.  I signed her in, had a quick chat with her leader about sunscreen, her lunch, pick up time, and keeping her safe.  I signed a waiver, Cam tried on a helmet and she was off to the barn.

I was left standing there having a "mommy moment."  She's really growing up.  She's not scared about this?  She'll be here all day, she knows no one?  Should this have been harder for her?  In that moment as I walked to my truck I decided I would pick her up as soon as possible that afternoon.  So, I showed up at 3:00. 

She was happy, dirty, sweaty and exhausted...and thoroughly peeved that she missed her afternoon bareback session because I showed up early.  Like a good Momma, I promised her she could stay for bare back riding on Wed & Friday.

I made good on that promise.  I sat at a picnic table, armed with my zoom lens (which was fogged up from the humidity) and photographed Camdyn riding bare back for the first time.  She trotted in her early morning lesson, but soon discovered that riding bare back did not afford her the same confidence.

Her instructor would remind her "pick up the reigns, Camdyn, and tell that horse where to go."  And she would.  She needed the reminder.

"Camdyn turn that horse around and go the other way. Look over your shoulder in the direction you want your horse to go."

That's what she did in the photo above.  She turned her horse, named Special, around.  180 degrees, around, pride written all over her face, along with extreme concentration.  My heart swelled for her. 

Sometimes we forget that children have milestone moments on a regular basis.  Moments where they accomplish something that may not seem like a big deal to others, who do it regularly, but for them, it's a big deal.  Controlling that horse, that one time, was a big moment for Camdyn.

When I asked Camdyn who her best friend at Horse Camp is, she replied, "Molly." 

Molly is a horse.

This does not surprise me.

Her experience at horse camp was a positive one.  Sure, I wish they would have helped her apply more sunscreen after that swim in the pool, and sure, I wish someone would have made sure she ate more than skittles for lunch one day, but those are small potatoes, really. 

She was safe at horse camp.  She loved every second of it, including craft time.  She brought home the cutest felt horses that she made in the camp room.  And, boy I wish I could remember the name of the lovely lady who took the time to sit with me and Chloe on Friday afternoon as we watched Cam's final bare back session.  She told me that Camdyn is fearless, and we discussed how much Cam enjoyed making crafts that day.  That interaction and feedback made my day. 

My kid, had an amazing experience at Laurel Valley Ranch, and her love for horses continues.  She can't wait to go back for a few weeks next summer, and I'm thinking that some time in between now and then, she just might have to have a few private lessons. 

Wordish Wednesday - Horse Love

The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact

with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit, and fire.

~Sharon Ralls Lemon

On Sunday afternoon, Gramma, Cam & I made a spur of the moment stop by the local history museum. "The museum campus consists of a Victorian village with 26 historical buildings filled with artifacts of the era as well as several beautiful 19th century gardens that depict life in northern Illinois from 1890 to 1910. " (Midway Village website). 

The paper said there would be a Wild West Show at 2:00 and....horses.  We all know how my girl loves horses.  We stopped by with no expectations and the "We'll just see what's going on" attitude.  We ended up spending hours there.   

After the Wild West Show which featured a dozen horses and cowboys shooting balloons, Cam was allowed to pet the horses.  There was a boy giving pony rides on his Shetland Pony, but she wanted none of it...she wanted to ride a Quarter Horse.  Well, she didn't get to ride around on one, but a very nice cowboy who recognized her love for horses let her sit on his beautiful horse. 

This made her day.  More photos and details from this event to come.

**Thanks to all who commented on my post yesterday.  Although I know I should not have let that lady bother me so much, she did.  I appreciate the supportive words and the humor. I am putting it behind me.  Much love to all.