Unsolicited Glowing Review of HeronCrest Stables in here somewhere

Feeling blah today. The temperature outside is incompatible with sustaining life, but I didn't have to go anywhere, so I can't blame it all on that. Small irritations: I screwed around on the computer for too long before drying my hair so it came out frizzy and weird, which it probably would have anyway because, hello, eighty-five percent humidity?: my knee hurts, because I'm old and creaky: I spent upwards of three hours staring at my latest assignment in complete and utter incomprehension, feeling like a dumbass loser, before realizing that I was trying to apply the first set of instructions incorrectly and applying them correctly made everything really really easy, which should have made me happy, but instead I just felt even STUPIDER. 

You know what? I AM going to blame it all on the weather. Forty degrees with the humidex. Jesus, how is that even real life? 

Small funny things: Angus's teacher emailed me to say that they had been discussing plans for the last week of school and talk of a potluck came up (prompting flashbacks for both her and me of the meatball incident) - she wanted to know if Angus told me that he had volunteered to bring in flaming shish-kebabs. Okay, that's only one thing, and I can't think of any more because I'm stupid because of the pills that I'm almost not taking any more and did I mention the weather?

On Sunday, my friend Janet and I took our daughters to HeronCrest Stables in  Smith's Falls (about 45 minutes from Ottawa). I had seen a Dealfind voucher for half-price riding lessons and I knew that Janet's daughter loves horses. As for Eve, since she was one and a half, every time we're at a fun fair or anything that has pony rides, she's grabbed the nearest parent's arm and not let up until her tiny butt was on one of those ponies.

Does she look smug or what?

So we snapped up two of the Dealfind vouchers and then I suddenly thought - shit, she hasn't been on a horse in six years and she's afraid of a bunch of stuff now. She won't even ride a bike and somehow I was blithely confident that she would be okay riding a horse?

Cue buyer's remorse!

Happily, she seemed pretty excited at the prospect, so we booked the lesson for Sunday.

Diana, the owner/manager/coach, was amazing. I think she sensed that Eve was a little nervous and Caitlin was a little hyper, and she was calm and matter-of-fact with both of them, which made Eve braver and Caitlin quieter. She had them groom the horses beforehand, and taught them the proper names and purposes of all the equipment. Anything that they could safely do on their own, she had them do, without hovering or micro-managing.

Rosie

Slick:

Hoof-cleaning

No hands! (Eve was not initially impressed with this at all).

Look - it's running! You can see the dust!

It was hot. Really hot. Once the girls were out in the paddock I realized that we had litres of sunscreen in the van and none on us. I got a ridiculous square-neck sunburn. Eve stayed lily-white - apparently you can't get sunburned while horseback riding. Also, we discovered that Caitlin is viciously allergic to horses, so if you go, bring Benadryl.  But on the whole, it was totally freaking awesome. Unlike today, which has now given me a headache. It's probably the weather.