Bella's Dream Day

Bella and Evelyn's primary babysitters are the Kelling girls. Erin just turned 16, and she's amazing with the girls! Plus, it's awesome knowing that she'll be around for a few more years. Before she started, her older sister, Courtney, watched the girls most often. 

Courtney loves riding horses and has been doing it for years now. She knows how much Bella loves horses, so now that she's home from college, she offered  to take us to her stables to give Bella a chance to brush the horses and get more exposure.

Bella and I were so excited! Courtney's riding coach wasn't going to be there today, so Bella wouldn't be able to actually ride in the horse, but she still had plenty of up-close and personal time!

 

Watching Courtney bring Mack and Clyde in from the pasture.

 

 

Meeting Mack for the first time! He was really gentle!

 

Courtney let Bella hold onto the lead ropes as the horses walked to the stables.

 

 

Learning that saddles are heavy!

 

 

Brushing Mack's back

 

 

Courtney was so patient as she taught Bella how to hold the brush, how to walk safely around Mack without scaring him, and how to buckle his saddle.

 

 

Evelyn got in on the action, too! Both girls got really brave and were willing to hold their hands to Mack's face and even feed him treats!

 

 

They loved it when his lips got feisty and started searching for food!

 

 

This was when I knew Bella was learning a good lesson: horses are not just "show up, jump on, and go galloping across a field". This was when Courtney was riding Mack out in the...paddock? show area? Something like that. Bella and Evelyn got bored pretty quickly since they were just watching, and they started playing in the sand. They did get to see Courtney and Mack gallop, which was very exciting for Bella!

 

 

Checking out one of the new horses, Valentino. Since he was a new horse to the stable, I threatened Bella's life if she stepped any closer. The girls were fascinated by him!

 

Petting Anna before we left! We were so thankful that Courtney gave us such a fun opportunity today! It was a good lesson for Bella about the amount of work it takes to be around horses, and also so much fun for them to brush and feed him! So excited to go back soon and let Bella ride!