The man on the right is Michael. He is the trainer at The Stables at LeBocage. The Stable is building a new barn and it's going to be really nice. But anyway, back to the lesson. After the tack up demo it was off to the riding ring. 
She is just too cute. The little pony is named Etcha Sketch. A big old softy pony. Etcha Sketch goes to big A rated shows and does really well. 
A quick demo of how to sit and where your leg should be and they were off. 
This is her posting. She did so well. She would post all down the long side and then walk on the corners, then back to posting trot down the long side. She was a trooper. She did not complain one time about being tired. Michael would tell her to walk and take a break and she would just continue trotting. 
I loved her posting. I wished I had my video camera. She really tried so hard to get it down. 
Here is Aunt Michelle and Cowpokette watching. Cowpokette looks like she wants a turn. 
Then Cowpokette decided to take a little siesta. Don't mind Aunt Michelle's arm, make sure you are comfy. 
Here is my niece doing her two point position. She is so cute up there. Oh, I can't wait for my daughter to be old enough to take some riding lessons. I am so excited. My niece kept on saying she wanted to jump. 
At the end of her turn, she got a quick correction of how her legs and feet should be, and her helmet got some fixing. Then it was my nephew's turn. 
There was a helmet fitting and then some mounting block instructions. 
My nephew made it very clear that he was not going to jump. He was just there for lessons on how to better his balance. He is too cute. 
And they are off. My nephew is sometimes a bit more nervous or cautious, but that day he did really well. His Mom and I were really impressed. 
A demo on how to do the two point position. A little note not to sit like a turtle. He really tried not to look like a turtle. 
His two point position. Then on to posting trot. 
He did a great job posting. He didn't even mind the pace that Etcha Sketch was setting. He did a great job. 
He took a quick break for a little pep talk and then pack to the rail for some more posting trot work. 
He really was quite the trooper. I am sure that took all sorts of muscles to do. Plus ponies are not normally the easiest horses to ride. They can be bouncy at times. 
After it was all done he was still smiling. 
She loved it too. They are going back today for lesson number two. I can't wait to hear how that goes. 
My nephew got to ride Etcha Sketch back to the barn. He deserved that little ride for all that hard posting trotting he did.
When you are sixteen, and you are taking your driver's test, I promise to have this picture in my wallet, to show you that you always looked good next to a nice set of wheels. 
Oh, I can't wait until Big Cowpoke is 16, and I can have all sorts of fun with pictures. Yes, I probably will be the mom that will show every girlfriend his baby pictures. I probably will be that "silly" mom that embarrasses Big Cowpoke. But maybe that will keep the girl's away. But there is one thing I am sure about, when Big Cowpoke turns 16, he probably will still be trying to squeeze his feet into the same brown boots. 
I know it will be here before I know it. And I can't wait to show him those car pictures. He sure thought he was hot stuff modeling next to the little red plastic car. I sure do love that kid.
I have set up a "shoot" with two ground poles. These poles are the center of my circles. This is where I work on straightness. Ozzie must come into the shoot straight. He must halt straight and square. Mr. Cowboy isn't as picky about the exercise as I am. So, we will give him some slack when he whoas Ozzie a bit early. 
Ozzie then walks off and the rider chooses the direction of the circle. Mr. Cowboy has picked to work on the left circle. 
I then have set up two cones at the other end of the circle. This is to help me make my circles more round. I am a horrible at circles. My circles end up more egg shaped. Then when you come back to the shoot, you halt and back. 
The back should be straight. This is when Ozzie first started to back with Mr. Cowboy. Now Ozzie backs with his neck supple and nose tucked under. It's amazing what a week of riding will do. I need to get after pictures or even better, a video. After working it at the trot to the left, Mr. Cowboy then works to the right. Ozzie turns and works better to the right. 
At that point Ozzie was still having to be "guided" with the rein. You can see Mr. Cowboy's right hand going out to "guide" Ozzie around his turn. Now you do not have to guide him as much. He still needs some reminders, but he is a lot better. Then it's time for the canter. 
The left canter circle was very nice. Ozzie did not try to canter at incredible speeds. He was relaxed and Ozzie tried to listen to what he was supposed to do. That is one thing I really like about Ozzie, he really trusts his rider. 
Canter around the cones, and then onto the shoot.
He came into the shoot a bit off. 
But he fixed it. 
This one is not as extended as the next one.
Holy smokes!! I actually think in that picture he was about to canter. But that horse has some serious reach. For being a short 15.1 hand horse. Ozzie has come along way in just a short two weeks. I keep trying to think about the end result, how well Ozzie will ride in 4 months or 8 months or even a year. That to me is exciting.
Oughff!
Oh so strong.
Helpers.
"Here ya go Dad!" Little Cowpoke is a really wonderful helper.
We were one of the first people on the field. The men who bale the hay call people to come and pick it up out of their fields. We were picking up 105 bales for us, 75 bales for Mr. Cowboy's brother's horses, and 75 more for Mr. Butch. 
Mr. Cowboy is the stacker. He normally stands on the trailer and stacks all the hay. But we got to the field first, so, he started lining up the hay on the ground. While driving I am limited to the photos I can take. Thank goodness the Ford has large side view mirrors. 
Mr. Cowboy's brother got there and helped us load up. The guys make it look so easy. 
Little Cowpoke jumped on the back to help stack. I love it when the kids try to help their Dad. 
It didn't take us very long to stack up our 105 bales. Those will be used up this winter along with the other 250 bales we have at home. I hope we have enough. Last year we had 6 bales left over. We were cutting it close! 
The little Cousins helped too. This one is a cutie. She saw that I had my camera and posed for me. The kids would help roll the bales closer to the trailers. 
And they would sit and wait for the trailer to catch up to them. Kids have so much energy. Big Cowpoke is there with his cousin. He has his hair spiked for his soccer game he had that morning. Their team lost. They are 0-2. 
Send in the troops for some reinforcements. 
Wait, hold one for a picture. See, I told you that that cute little cousin is wonderful at getting her picture taken. She is such a ham. 
Go Go!!
Help is on the way. It will be great when all those kids are bigger and they can be the hay tossers and leave the driving to us old folks. 
Wait a second. What is this? The two older ones are trying to get Little Cowpoke to jump out of a moving trailer. Good thing I was standing by. They got in trouble and a short lecture on the dangers of jumping off of a moving trailer. What will those kids think up next? 
My sister in law got in their truck. She is awesome. She drives a stick. I have never learned how to drive a standard. I tried once in high school and I couldn't even get the truck started. *Sigh*
These kids have such fun together. The oldest Cousin actually could lift some bales. And the Girl Cousin was great at helping me babysit. She is a wonderful helper. 
"Hey Cousin!! Come here!! " They were all yelling. 
Love those crazy kids. 
So, who wanted me to put the camera down? Mr. Cowboy is such a ham. I wonder where the kids get it from. He only pretends to no like me taking pictures. 
And what is that in his mouth? Is that hay I see? Sometimes I wonder about this man. 
We were all loaded up. It didn't take too long. Then we had to go home and unload it all. Ugh. Hopefully we will not be needing any more hay for this winter. This time hay was $4.25 a bale. When I first moved here 5 years ago, it was $2.25 a bale. 
