This little lady knows a lot about horses.She has been listening to her sisters talk about them daily for years. Every evening, she helps Natalie feed April, our three year old future fancy show pony! She has been to many a horse show and understands how they work.
That is why she enjoys this game so much.The garage is emptied of all props that could possibly be used as jumps and they are set up as a course. For Miss J. they are "cross-rails", she jumps or trots over the lower center point. The older kids put the tools straight across so that the jump is higher.
In this picture, she is holding her imaginary reins in front of her and her leg is in the back of her.Two trucks are holding this jump up.
Natalie set up five jumps in this course and they will walk, trot and canter (all on foot, of course)around in different patterns. Miss J. is aware that she must be on the proper lead which is the appropriate leg moving out first, depending on where she is in the circle. I still can never figure it out.
If she does well, she wins a blue ribbon which her sisters have stockpiles of.
In this case, she won three blues making her the Grand Champion of this division, as horse shows typically have groups of three classes that a rider competes in.
Because of the effort involved in setting these items up, they will keep them out until Larry mows again.The next day they had more fun.
When giving a horse lesson, the instructor stands in the middle of the ring and calls out different commands and suggestions.Miss J. will follow her sister's commands like "Riders, you are being judged at the walk". or, "All canter."
Natalie is lucky to have a little sister to share her hobby with and who is willing to learn
and sometimes it's fun to actually get a ride,too!
