The McDaid Family: Horseback Riding

Toward the end of summer, we were looking for some incentive to get the kids doing math flash cards in preparation for beginning the school year. We settled on a sticker chart to keep track of how many times they did their flash cards without any complaining. Each time they did them (with a good attitude) they got a sticker. Before they began, we agreed once they got a set number of stickers we'd do something fun (like Craig's Cruisers or something). Well, they both got the required number of stickers and we were planning on going to Craig's Cruisers to ride go-carts.... that was until the Camp Bob Rodeo (see earlier post). While there, a guy named Mike Jones (a different Mike Jones) had pony rides and gave us a card for his nearby farm where they have horse trail rides. The kids decided right then to trade in their Craig's Cruiser special treat to go horseback riding instead. So yesterday, we went. Scott & Val, Zach, and Nick came along for the fun. Turned out the youth firearm deer season was this weekend so we couldn't ride any of the public trails. But we did ride all over the 180 acre farm including one trail through the woods. They had 36 horses, 20-something cows, and lots of open space on the farm. This was Allison's first time on a "real" horseback ride. And Nathan got to have his own horse. Controlling it was a little tricky for him at first. Allison rode with me and constantly wanted to make the horse trot. Needless to say, my backside was tender today. After we were done, we got to go through the giant hay maze made out of those huge round hay bales. Anyway, here are some pictures of our adventure. Enjoy...

Heidi and the kids waiting for the horses to be readied...