Lia Update!

So today we went on the first horseback ride of the year (Jake and Dad have gone a few times but that's no surprise)! I was SO NERVOUS! I hate what a nervous wreck/worrywart I am. I rode Shade, Memrie rode Lightning (same temperament as Shade but he's taller), Dad C. rode Spur (worst horse ever), Tyson rode Buck, and Jake rode Diego! It was SO fun! All the horses did such a good job! Spur was psycho but none of the other horses followed him. Not one scary thing happened and that's what I like. Normally Shade is everyone's least favorite horse to ride because she walks soooo slow and then trots to catch up and to make her walk the same pace as everyone else is always a fight. But today, by some miracle, she did amazing. Also Shade is normally hard to catch. She's just a mean old mare who runs away but today I walked right up to her and caught her without a problem! I was so happy!

The bad news is that I didn't bring a camera. Boo.

After the ride I got Lia (kind of a big step for me. Jake is always with me when I catch her and lead her around out of her coral but lately I can do it all by my big self!) and I saddled her up and then Jake brought Josh and Zsahnae's kids out and they each took turns riding her!

DO YOU KNOW HOW AWESOME THAT IS?

Pretty awesome. So Stoker went first and he was fearless. So brave.

Then Jethro got on. He was nervous at first but warmed right up.

After Jethro Livy got on. She was so brave, too.

Then Ziah got on. Ziah is four!! She was so cute just beaming up there.

Lia did amazing. Like... Seriously. All those kids were running around her that whole time and the kid on top of her always was moving around and yelling at everyone else and crazy stuff like that but Lia totally kept her cool. Never twitched or jumped or pulled against the rope or jerked her head or anything. That's amazing.

Then I got on and Jake stopped leading with the rope and I lead her around with the reigns! She got the hang of it immediately! Which is even more impressive because before me the four kids were pulling on the reigns pretty randomly.

I can't believe how lucky I am to have Lia! I love her so much! She is the perfect first horse to train.