Renn’s First Saddle Ride & She Heads Home

A little body made its way into our room around 4 a.m. today and was soon fast asleep. She was rustling around at 7:30, but with a few bum taps and some snuggling into my neck, she managed to sleep until 8:15. Today’s declaration was a birthday song, perhaps because yesterday morning had been all about her Momma’s birthday.

We headed out to feed and pet Mr. Jenkins in the bright morning sunshine while I made a coffee. I quickly braided Renn’s hair and sent a photo to Amanda, who returned one of Aislyn today sporting the same braid, although hers was much tighter. :0)

Once Grandpa was up and had his coffee, I asked for ten minutes to get Tuesday’s blog finished and published, so they went downstairs to play for a bit. It took me a little longer than ten minutes, and I still managed to sneak in a quick shower before getting on with the day.

I let the horses out and fed Harley while Renn opted to stay with Grandpa. It was also time to start putting away the mountain of toys that had made their way out over the past week. Auntie B was out, much to Renn’s delight, so we pulled on our cowgirl boots and headed outside.

Renn helped Auntie B bring the freezable totes to the garage before we set out to catch Hank. She led him back to the barn, and what a good boy he is! ❤️ I grabbed my little Mexican saddle and found Cricket’s little cinch while the girls started brushing him. I picked out a blanket, tacked him up and off we went on her very first saddle ride.

Could this be any sweeter?? <3

B tried to shorten the stirrups, but seems Renn just needs longer legs! ;) Renn enjoyed her ride for quite some time, happily sitting up there until S brought the laundry basket to the trailer. That was all it took — suddenly she wanted off to go see inside the trailer!

She helped untack and brush Hank before heading back to the house to find Grandpa. He was working on the garage door seals and helped her wash her hands and get a snack. I held Hank for B and gave him treats — aka hay nuggets — for his good behaviour while he continues figuring out our way of trimming him. Once he was settled back in the pasture, B headed home to eat.

Back inside, I added a cheese string and some fruit to Renn’s snack/lunch dish and grabbed a bite of leftovers myself. We went looking for some Barbies in Auntie B’s "toy" closet but came back upstairs with the Bratz suitcase instead, which kept her busy for quite a while.

Kaylin, the birthday girl, and Nathan arrived around 2:30, and Renn was absolutely thrilled. The very first thing she said was, “Happy birthday!” completely unprompted. ❤️ She was also excited to have Dad join her and Grandpa in the Ranger to pick raspberries, and the three of them came back with a small bucketful to share with Mom.

Kaylin and I visited until they were back - Renn demonstrated how horses eat, served up her pumpkin cookies and found her way to more snacks. I made guacamole, only to discover we were at the very end of the chips. LOL. Crackers it was!

Eventually Renn decided she should go home — now — so everything was packed up quickly and the car loaded, including the frozen meals Gran had brought for all the girls. B was just pulling in around 4:30, so she said her hellos and goodbyes and caught Bird to trim her feet. I had to call them back from the gate after discovering Renn’s backpack was full of pig family members. Disaster averted!

Once they headed off, I got the robot working on the floors while I flipped up chairs and got things tidy. B popped in to say she was riding, and I used another “just do it” card, leaving the robot to work while S continued laying in Big Brown to watch sports.

It turned into a lovely hour-long ride around our field and through the winery. We did not see our moose but did see our fox that has been MIA this year. Once we untacked and got all the horses back into the winter pasture, I headed inside as the robot wrapped up its first round and sent it off to tackle a few more rooms.

B fed the horses and then moved on to paddock blading the middle pasture as the crazy skies lit up around us. Inside, S put pizzas in the oven while hockey now became the sport of choice, and I worked on the blog at the island. B joined us for supper and headed home after 8.

I retreated to the bedroom and started the new season of Leanne while the sports master continued with his TV-watching evening. A pretty perfect ending to a very full day. :)