This Mama's Heart is Full!!!

Left to Right:  Dawson on Copper, Belle on Brandy, Devin on Benny



Last Night, I finally sighed a 'Mother's Sigh of Relief'!  Finally after years of searching, we thankfully have 3 amazing kids horses that the mother in me can safely say "they will take care of my kids".  We got our first pony about 5 years ago on a blizzardy day one March at Kist Livestock for $5.  Needless to say, she was beyond wild!  But we trained her, got her calmed down, and she went to a home that could do more 'finish' work with her.  Since then we have definitely had our ups and downs (and by downs I mean really downs...like eating dirt, downs) with horses and horse-people in general.  But, not to talk about the negative, lets look at the positive!

Dawson got Copper from an amazing family last July and we ended up doing a lot of trail-riding, chasing heifers in from the pasture, and even a few kids rodeos.  Belle was still riding Benny (the pony) last summer but she was definitely too big for him (Belle got Benny for Christmas 2 years ago).  So, here we go again, trying to find another kid-broke horse.  I posted an ad on bismanonline.com about a month ago that I was looking for a 'step-up' horse for Belle and a lady wrote me saying she had a horse that spent the last 2 summers at a girls riding camp in Minnesota.  Perfect!  When can we come see her?  Well, she was still in Minnesota, so we had to patiently wait until she came back to ND the beginning of May.  So May rolled around and I got a text that the lady decided to keep her!  AH!!!  We were so devastated!  So I wrote her that if they changed their mind, please, please let me know!  Well, another week later, she wrote me again saying they changed their mind again, and come ride Brandy.  So last Sunday after church we went out and met her.  We came back on Wednesday night and rode her another time just to make sure.  Then on Thursday we brought her home!  The lady was very reluctant to see Brandy go and even signed a 'buy-back contract'.  She jumped right in with our horses and quickly bonded to Luna (my horse).  The four horses that we have now get along together perfectly!

So all day long yesterday, Belle was begging to ride so we went out with just rope halters.  We caught the horses and I threw each of the kids up, knotted the lead-rope around the other side and said "Go!"  So there were my three cowboys, riding their horses bareback, no bridles, just a rope halter, around our newly-plowed outdoor riding arena that is only half-finished!  It was amazing!  Andrew and I sat on the fence and watched as the kids and their horses worked as a team together, and just enjoyed the evening.  Drew even swung up with Belle on Brandy and they rode double:

  This Mama's heart was so full watching kids bond with their horses!  Now, if we can just get that dang pony to stay in the pen...then all would be beyond perfect.