White Thorns and The General

During the past week, the weather was very foggy around here- lots of hoar frost and dampness.
Several times all the foliage looked like it had sprouted thorns- like raspberry brambles.

A couple of times I went out for a walk while the sun was shining for a bit, only to have the fog roll back in before I got to the end of the driveway.


On Saturday, Sadie got her birthday party of sorts. Sadie's birthday is on January 10th, I was sorta partied out after the holidays, so I gave her the option of taking a horse class through Community Education instead. She took the option.

The class was two hours long at a nearby horse stable- about 10 miles from us. It is a pretty posh place- the barn has huge log beams and there is a 80x200 indoor heated arena. The class was geared to teaching kids about what it takes to own a horse, and then they got a chance to ride. The parents, me included, listened in, so I got to learn too. They learned about grooming the horses, leading them, saddling, etc. Then they led them down to the arena and got to ride a bit.

Leading the horses back to the barn after riding in the arena.

My camera fogged up in the arena, but I took a few shots for proof that Sadie was up on The General, a palamino, riding.
She really enjoyed it, and would like to ride more. There are a couple more community ed classes available, or else there is a "Pony Club" at the stable, though it is expensive.

My favorite horse out of the bunch wasn't a horse at all- I fell in love with Mabel the Mule.
She had long ears and sad looking eyes, and loved attention. Apparently mules are great for apprehensive riders and are very smooth to ride.