Yes, my little Marley is AMAZING!!! I am very much in love with her. She has been ridden now, well before the carnival, a total of six times. You see, my friend Shannon came one day, haltered her, lunged her around a little and hopped on bareback and uh, that was it....no buck to her, no crow hop, nothing. Shannon was riding her. She may have ridden her one more time when my other friend Keyarra rode her around. Then the call came, it was Shannon, "Jaime, you should come and ride Marley, she is just fine!" So, of course, I did. I went over, Shannon worked her a tiny bit first, saddled and lunged her then I hopped on. I rode her around a little on the property then, Shannon mounted Safar, and Keyarra mounted her horse Autumn. Then we hit the streets-YEP, right there through the neighborhood!!! We rode down 98th Terrace, turned onto Wallace, road to my street and past my house, around the whole block and back towards the pasture. It was a good hour ride. No incidents at all-maybe because she was with her friends, who knows but all went well.
The next thing you know, a few weeks later, my dear husband said, "Jaime, the masjid in Overland Park wants the horses for the carnival." I told him that I did not have my experienced horses with me and that I did not think I could do it with Marley...but I was wrong! I decided to take her, Autumn (another two year old), and Alex-my friend Sheila's horse (well Shannon's too). They were the best horses.
It was a very windy day. I set up the fencing for a make-shift corral while the girls worked with the horses, just brushing them and making sure they were alright. We saddled up, lead the horses around so they could get used to the property and see the moonwalk and other "scarey" things there (if you know horses, you know what I mean!). They were all very well behaved. It was soon showtime and the kids came in DROVES! From 3pm-7pm, Marley, Autumn, and Alex gave children and parents rides in the fenced-in area I created for the purpose of keeping little kids OUT and away from the horses. SAFETY FIRST ya know!
For four hours, 4hrs!, Marley selflessly let people on her back. Okay, there was one little incident, being a two year old horse, she nibbled on my arm-I am convinced it was a love bite- but other than the bite, no incidences. I WAS AND STILL AM SO PROUD OF HER!!!
So a couple of days ago, a whole month after the carnival, I decided to take my friend Amira over to ride.
I took Marley out of the pasture and tied her so she could be groomed, and BOY did she have a TON of cockleburs! Sara brought me the saddle blanket and saddle, I threw the blanket up on her, no reaction. I put the saddle on her, no reaction. I went to tighten the saddle, SHE STARTED TO LAY DOWN! I pulled her head back up and she stood there. I tightened the saddle the rest of the way.
I then picked up her front left hoof with the intention of picking it out...she started to lay down again! This happened three times until I started to get worried about her! I then moved to the front right leg to see if she was maybe lame and could not handle weight on that hoof. I picked it up and sure enough, SHE STARTED TO LAY DOWN AGAIN!!! okay, now by this time, I was getting worried. I had never had any of my horses do this before. I had my seven year old walk her around while I watched. I could not tell she was limping so I had Amira ride her. After the ride, after I took the saddle off, I picked up her front left leg again, NOTHING...then the right leg, NOTHING...she did not attempt to lay down.
THEN IT DAWNED ON ME- SHE WAS SILENTLY PROTESTING BEING RIDDEN!!! YEP, SHE WAS TRYING TO CONDUCT A SIT IN!!!
TRUE STORY...and that is MY MARLEY!
Since then, she was ridden just yesterday for a whopping five minutes before it started to pour down rain! This time no sit in protest just a little complaining about having that saddle tightened around her and all she did was move around a bit. What a good little girl!!!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The Joys of Parenting
Having six children, I can safely say that working out side the home definitely detracts from my ability to spend time with my children and really enjoy them for the amazing little individuals they are. It is very easy to loose patience, over look their uniqueness, and get bogged down in the day to day running of a household.
I try to take time outs, seems to happen mostly on the weekend, where I can do something fun with them. It is not always easy and the "fun" element gets deminished when we are always in a hurry to do things-rushing to the next activity.
This weekend, not unlike all our weekends, is going to be crammed full of things to do. We have two activities on Saturday, one on Sunday, and oh, yeah- the normal mundane things like LAUNDRY (my arch nemisis) and cleaning. Cub, Boy, and Girl Scouting is time consuming but oh so much cool stuff to take the kids to and let them learn and experience new things. IF ONLY I could do scouting full time. I think I would really be in my element then.
Evenings at my household consist of the following:
Get home around 5pm, immediately sit at the table upon entering the house and taking off our shoes. TIME TO DO HOMEWORK and TUTORING. This lasts HOURS, or at least it has been for the last month it seems. The end of the first quarter fast approaches and I am praying for a little relief in second quarter.
Out of my six children, I have four who need help, two that need LOTS of help. Alhamdullah, the joys of parenting, if only I had more time, more energy, more patience....
Sometimes I think the best way to handle things is to allow the children to take breaks. Life isn't always studying and some of the most valuable lessons in life are not found in books. So, I try to take them outdoors, to the horses, to the park, just in the yard-children learn best through play afterall, isn't that what research says?
Parenting is, or should be, a joyous thing that is for sure. I think it is up to us parents to MAKE IT SO.
Recently I watched an Eddie Murphy movie, IMAGINE THAT. I thought it was a very nice movie and found myself wishing that all parents see it! It's all about a father-Eddie Murphy-who has lost touch with his inner child and has to learn, the hard way, that he needs to be there for his child and see her for the amazing little person she is. Very nice...It was especially nice because it was more for adults than children and it was a clean movie. I do not recall a single second were I had to fast forward for fear the kids (and myself) would see something or hear something inappropriate. I found myself laughing out load many times as well. We all need a good laugh.
I try to take time outs, seems to happen mostly on the weekend, where I can do something fun with them. It is not always easy and the "fun" element gets deminished when we are always in a hurry to do things-rushing to the next activity.
This weekend, not unlike all our weekends, is going to be crammed full of things to do. We have two activities on Saturday, one on Sunday, and oh, yeah- the normal mundane things like LAUNDRY (my arch nemisis) and cleaning. Cub, Boy, and Girl Scouting is time consuming but oh so much cool stuff to take the kids to and let them learn and experience new things. IF ONLY I could do scouting full time. I think I would really be in my element then.
Evenings at my household consist of the following:
Get home around 5pm, immediately sit at the table upon entering the house and taking off our shoes. TIME TO DO HOMEWORK and TUTORING. This lasts HOURS, or at least it has been for the last month it seems. The end of the first quarter fast approaches and I am praying for a little relief in second quarter.
Out of my six children, I have four who need help, two that need LOTS of help. Alhamdullah, the joys of parenting, if only I had more time, more energy, more patience....
Sometimes I think the best way to handle things is to allow the children to take breaks. Life isn't always studying and some of the most valuable lessons in life are not found in books. So, I try to take them outdoors, to the horses, to the park, just in the yard-children learn best through play afterall, isn't that what research says?
Parenting is, or should be, a joyous thing that is for sure. I think it is up to us parents to MAKE IT SO.
Recently I watched an Eddie Murphy movie, IMAGINE THAT. I thought it was a very nice movie and found myself wishing that all parents see it! It's all about a father-Eddie Murphy-who has lost touch with his inner child and has to learn, the hard way, that he needs to be there for his child and see her for the amazing little person she is. Very nice...It was especially nice because it was more for adults than children and it was a clean movie. I do not recall a single second were I had to fast forward for fear the kids (and myself) would see something or hear something inappropriate. I found myself laughing out load many times as well. We all need a good laugh.
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