“Horsey horsey, don’t you stop…”
I can hear Edith singing in the living room whilst I cook dinner, banging her “horsey” on the floor and taking it for a trot. The boys are keeping out of the way in case she so happens to decide to bang it on their heads or legs, just for fun, as you do.
It was only a few short months ago that she had her first experience riding her first horse. It was during a trip to Center Parcs and it was possibly the cutest moment ever. Since then, Edith has steadily been more interested in horses – they are everywhere aren’t they?
The princesses ride them.
Pedro in Peppa pig is a pony.
Her barbie carriage has one.
She sees them in the fields on the way to school…
And now she’s ridden one herself.
Her first experience of riding was a mixed bag. Her biggest brother Reuben, who has teamed up with petplan equine horse insurance to design her a “dream horse” and have it made into a teddy for her, wasn’t there and I suspect if he had been, she might have been less nervous. She started out super confident, super excited and then when the pony had to lead downhill she started to get a little bit nervous and, especially with her helmet being a touch too large, she just started to cry and decided to walk next to the pony.
One of the things that I’ve noticed, especially since her first riding session, is that she is really interested in seeing what these magical creatures have to offer and steadily she’s started to play more and more with her horse toys – something that has delighted her brother’s as they get to have their transformers, cars and (for Toby) the teddies to themselves.
Living in the countryside, horse riding will always be an easy option activity for my kids. It’s not a cheap one, not one that I would push them towards but it’s a fact that there is no shortage of liveries in the area and riding stables. I always wanted a horse as a child, quite desperately so in fact. The freedom of taking the horse out for a hack, wandering the woods and relaxing into nature. I have also often pointed out to Adam that if we did ever have a pony for Edith (which he assures me we will not!) I would love to have a horse of my own to go riding with her.
Perhaps for now we’ll just sing about them and play with the toys!
This post was possible thanks to Petplan Equine Horse Insurance, all thoughts are my own.
