The Adventures of Pink Sparkles Unicorn Butterfly Alliyah

Today was a VERY big day for the Meher clan. Pink Sparkles Unicorn Butterfly Aliyah (as Teagan now prefers to be called) had her very first horseback riding lesson!! Yes, she was borderline devastated that she wouldn't be riding a Unicorn but I was able to stop the tears when I told her we'd just start on a horse and maybe one day she can graduate up to a unicorn :P 

We arrived a little early and were able to walk around and look at all of the horses in their stalls. I was really proud of both girls for being good and keeping their hands to themselves while we were in the barn around the horses. I told Teagan that she wasn't allowed to wear a pink sparkly dress during her lesson as some of the horses may be afraid of that and she was less than thrilled about it. In fact her very first question to her instructor was, "Are horses really afraid of pink sparkly dresses?" 

This would be her dress of choice (all day 'er day):

But this is what I was able to wrangle her into: 

Sister was so excited to come and watch and "decide" if she also wanted to try horseback riding. She was very supportive and proud the whole time :) And I'm happy to announce that she decided very early on that she does, in fact, also want lessons! Like mommy like both daughters apparently :) 

First things first...meeting her horse! His name was Ranger and he's 32 years old (which is about 90 in human years) so as you can imagine, any and all concern about safety went straight out the window :) I was just impressed he could still stand up! We learned that caring for the animal and grooming them is just as important (if not more important) than riding. Kinsey and Teagan both loved this part!

Tack was next and Teagan was right there to help get the saddle and bridle on :) 

And then came time to actually ride. This is when things got a little dicey :P Her instructor, Shellie, told her to put her foot in the stirrup about 7 times without her moving a muscle and I started to realize that she was getting really nervous. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "No...I change my mind!" "Oh no, here we go" I thought. 

But I put her on the horse, held her hand, and told her, "You'll never know if you can be great at this unless you try. You may love it, but you'll never know unless you try! And of course it feels weird to be up there...it's your first time! But I promise, the more time you spend up there the more comfortable it will feel." 

And you know what? SHE DID IT!!! 

Talk about proud mom moment :) She faced her fears and even started having fun!!! Within seconds of walking around on Ranger she was smiling her big, cute, crazy smile and I was SOOO happy and proud of her!

She started out simply walking (and SQUEEZING my hand) while Ranger was on a lead, but after learning how to stop, go, and turn, she was riding on her own by the end of the lesson!! 

It was such a beautiful day and spending it with my girls, surrounded by horses, while watching them step outside of their comfort zone and face their fears was an incredible experience :) I can't wait for our next few lessons to see how much they learn and how far they can go with this!