Gwen Overcomes Her Fear Of Horses

On the last day of school back in May, Gwen was invited to a birthday party for one of the girls in her class.  She was so excited, because it was horse themed, and she has really gained a love for horses in the last year. 

 

She talked about it all week long, barely able to contain her excitement each time she mentioned it.  She was almost dancing on the day of the party because she was so excited...and then we got to the party.  It was held at a ranch on the outskirts of town that does birthday parties.  And part of the party was getting to ride one of their horses.

 

Gwen does not like animals.  At all.  She has a big fear of any and all animals, which amplifies considerably when she is in close range of them.  So, she wasn't too thrilled with the idea of riding the horse.  The man and wife who own the ranch talked to her about it, and explained everything to her, and promised that they would walk next to her while she rode the horse.  Gwen finally relented and got on the horse.

 

And had a BLAST!!  She got back in line over and over again to ride the horse.  She loved it so much that I have promised her we will look into horseback riding lessons.  Her grin was ear to ear each time she got to ride the horse.

After everyone had multiple chances to ride the horse, they had a train ride for the kids.  They hooked up these buckets that they had cut open to their lawn mower, and they took the kids on two rides around the ranch.  Gwen sat with one of her friends from her class both times, and she had a blast.

Between the two train rides they took the kids on, they also took all of us (parents and kids) on a hay ride up and down the road.  The kids all seemed to enjoy it, and we were able to take a picture of them before they took their second train ride.  They also let the kids paint their hands, then put their handprints on one of their other horses.  Gwen of course chose blue (her new favorite color).

Gwen had such a blast at the party.  She really wants to have her next birthday party there, but because it's the middle of winter, I don't think it will happen, but horseback riding lessons are definitely something we will look into in the future.  Yay for horses!!