Horsing Around

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the term "living books", but it refers to the concept of reading interesting well-written books by authors who are passionate about their subject instead of reading summaries of topics in a textbook.  We learn more and enjoy the process when education is centered around living books than an average textbook. 

While reading "living books" is interesting, interacting with people and the things they are passionate about and getting to experience a bit of their passion is incredible!

Today, we had the most amazing fieldtrip ever.  It happened quite by accident.  I called a friend looking for horseshoes.  She didn't have any but called a friend of hers who does.  Long story short, we were invited to her home to meet her two miniature horses and three full-sized horses.   This woman is passionate about her horse friends and it was contagious.

The kids loved getting to know Cody, especially since he was just their size. 

They had the opportunity to help groom him.

... take a look at his hooves and learn why it's important for her to remove rocks from the frog.

 And then help saddle her up for a ride.  Even Treyton had a turn.  His giggles of delight as horse and boy set off still make me smile.  (Sniff, sniff.  He's definitely not a baby anymore.)

The kids also had a lesson in horse anatomy as she showed us Hookie's tendon injury and let the kids compare the feel of the injured leg vs. healthy leg.

We ended our time with the horses by giving Cody some special treats!  Squeals of surprise and anticipation were prevalent as the kids learned how to palm a carrot.  Cody didn't seem to mind the extra attention or special treats! :)

One of the cool aspects of an experience like this is getting to watch how each kid takes to it.  For all of his bravado and excitement leading up to our outing, Xander wasn't overly interested.

Keegan on the other hand, my adorable cowboy Keegan, was just mesmerized with the horses.  At one point pony and boy were nuzzling each other.  While the other kids had gone off to explore the fire pit,  Keegan stayed with the horses.

We learned so much today in a way that is just not possible from a book or computer/television screen.  Nothing quite takes the place of 'experience.'  We'll be looking for more of it and excited to see what unconventional opportunities are in our future!