Get Back On That Horse

The Fourth of July in Big Sky looked more like Thanksgiving Day. But, that didn't stop us from going horseback riding. I called a place recommended by the lady we rented the house from & they had a 1 hour ride & a horse just for Ella.

She wasn't the least bit excited for the adventure.

Her favorite part was crossing the water.

Quite early in the ride, Sliver the horse caught on that he was only carrying 40 pounds. So, he started eating everything in sight. Ella did all that she could to get him to stop. But, she just wasn't strong enough. So, the wrangler held onto Ella's horse. Everything was fine until the lead horse starting behaving badly, galloped & got the rope caught under her tail. She didn't like that & started spinning in circles. Poor Ella was scared to death. It was the longest minute of my life. When everyone recovered, we convinced Ella to stay on the horse. She was given a little stick to swat the horse when he started eating. He never stopped, so Ella kept giving him little swats. He got annoyed & kicked up his hind legs. It was game over for Ella. She wanted off the horse PRONTO. I was so worried that she would be permanently scared of horses. But, she started smiling as soon as her feet were on the ground, hiked the whole way back without complaining & happily climbed into the car & told Nick about the experience.

Kate, the wrangler, was kind enough to give Ella a pony ride when we got back so that we could leave on a happy note.

Ella's big concern was why the horse was being so bad. I think she took it personally. So, I explained it in terms she could understand:

Me: You know how sometimes we ask Greta to do something?

Ella: Yeah.

Me: And she doesn't listen?

Ella: Yeah.

Me: And so we keep asking her?

Ella: Uh-huh.

Me: And finally we tell her in a way that she knows she has to listen to?

Ella: Yeah.

Me: What does she do then?

Ella: She throws a fit.

Me: Right. Your horse is a lot like Greta.

After the ride, we went to Buck's T4 Lodge for dinner. It had a game room for the kids & big game for the boys (and luckily tomato soup & spinach salad for my virtually vegetarian sister).