California - Part 2, Horseback Riding

Warning - picture overload! These pictures also loaded backward from when I intended, so you get the story backwards.

The ranch where CG goes horseback riding such a very beautiful spot! This ranch takes care of horses that have been rescued from abusive and/or neglectful situations. The whole place is very relaxing and seems very far from the rest of the world.

We put Sweetheart up on the back of CG's horse after she was done. The horse didn't seem to notice, but Sweetheart wasn't too sure about it.

CG did everything for her horse, including cleaning up the present he left for her.

Sweetheart did really well and enjoyed looking at all the flowers and animals.

The day we went it was not actually her normal horseback riding lessons, it was a thing called Pony Club. They spend the first hour learning things about the horses (you'll see those pictures further down below because they loaded backwards), and then they spend the second hour riding the horses. It was so good to finally get to see her ride, I can't believe how good she is at it!

We have videos, too, but I am going to post those in a couple of days. I think I've already overloaded this post enough!



This is her leading her horse to the arena. I love it because she looks so professional walking along next to that horse.


Sweetheart got a little tired and ended up taking a nap in the carrier.

The next few show what CG had to do to get the horse ready to ride. In reverse order, of course.

You could tell she had done this a lot, she was just so sure of herself. She even picked up the horse's hooves and cleaned them, and looked like a pro the whole time.



This horse's name is Ziggy. He seems like a very nice, mellow horse.

The next few pictures show the first hour where they learned about the horses. That day they were learning about the different breeds. In this first picture is the horse that CG usually rides, his name is Royale. He had hurt his leg, though, and so he did not get ridden that day. If you look closely at the black spot by CG's right elbow, you can see that it is a cat. Sweetheart got a scare from this cat when it started playing with her and got a claw stuck in her sweater. It was apparently pretty traumatic, for hours after she would randomly just pout and say, "Kitty." Kinda funny.

I loved that this was the kind of place where the kids could just relax, play, pet the horses, and climb the fences. It was so laid back and nice.


Videos coming soon! I also have more pics of our California trip that will be coming soon. Poor CG, we were so happy to see her that we took a ton.