Deegan Family Blog: Horse Play

As a family, we made a bucket list for the coming summer. The list includes some pretty bizarre quests, including ¨make a composter¨ (Andy's), ¨eat the Mt Kearsarge at Arctic Dreams¨ (Aiden's- and by the way, I believe that's 20 scoops of ice cream), and ¨visit a lavender farm¨ (mine). Haley's additions mostly include things she knows she's going to do anyway, like ¨be a flower girl¨ (in Jeanne & Joe's wedding) and ¨go to Parishville.¨ But she also had ¨ride a horse¨ on there, thanks to her recent obsession with all things horses, so we decided to start on the bucket list over Mother's Day weekend and get both kids a riding lesson.

I knew we had to go to the right place, with people (and horses) who were good with kids, or this could go horribly wrong. Despite Haley's fervent love for horses, she doesn't have any clue about them in real life, and I'm pretty sure before last weekend she imagined your typical horse was maybe slightly larger than our dog Kimball. And probably with a pink mane. So really, NO idea. I did a bit of research and found a place a little over an hour away in the lakes region that looked perfect- High Meadows Farm in Moultonborough. They said they were all about beginners and learning about how to be safe around horses and how to care for them in addition to riding. ¨No one is too young or old to ride¨ It sounded perfect... and it was. ¨Miss Sue,¨ who runs the farm, is also a Kindergarten teacher, and there was never a moment when she wasn't convincing Haley that this was going to be the best and most exciting day of her life. As a result, after she learned how to lead, groom, and saddle up a horse named Oreo Cookie, she hopped right on with a smile. Sue had her trotting and directing the horse by herself in under and hour and I don't think I've ever seen such big smiles! What a treat on Mother's Day to get to see that...

Aiden also had a great time- he got the more ¨advanced¨ lesson after Haley's, where he learned to post during a trot and did all the riding and directing the horse through different obstacles himself, without Sue helping. I'm afraid the kids loved it so much we will have to go back, maybe for horse camp or at least for a family trail ride. We must stop short of buying a pony though. That cannot happen.

It was fitting to start on our summer bucket list this past weekend, since the weather has felt just like summer for the past 2 weeks. We went right from cold and gray and 40 degrees to 70, skipping the 50s and 60s entirely. Its been a bit of a shock, but as shocks go, it's a nice one. We even went for our first swim in Pleasant Lake on Saturday. The mercury said 80 degrees, but the water said ¨Ha! You bozos! Try 45!¨-- but the kids and I still managed a breath-sucking plunge into the crystal clear lake. It was worth it. Summer is short here; you've got to take advantage while you can. On to the next bucket list item...