Bella and Savannah Ride!

Jim took Bella and Savannah horseback riding on Sunday while Kyle and I got some much needed rest at home.  Bella has been riding in Vermont before, but she's always rode with Jim sitting behind her.  On Sunday she learned how to ride all by herself!!

 

Bella rides alone!

The instructor taught Bella how to "steer" the horse properly:

Both girls learned how to groom a pony:

And they both learned how to groom a horse, too:

Savannah also went riding although it was her naptime so she was tired and actually started to doze off while riding on the pony!

Savannah's first time riding:

Bella is a natural born horseback rider!

 

Another photo of the girls grooming a pony:

All in all it was a fun and exciting learning experience for the girls!  The farm - Hawkswood - is located right over in Rehoboth, not too far from where we live.  Jim said the farm was very plain and simple, no fancy bells or whistles, which is exactly what we want!  Horseback riding has become outrageously expensive over the past 10-15 years due to the increase in its popularity.  Most places charge a minimum of $50 for a one hour lesson, which is obviously well out of our price range.  Hawkswood is much more reasonably priced, although I'm not sure exactly what the cost would be for the kids to take regular lessons there (I have to call when I get a chance) because we had purchased discounted gift cards from the internet for their lessons on Sunday.  I'm pretty sure they were like $15 or $20 a piece, which is WELL worth it for an hour of fun on a horse!