A Day at the Doublebarrel Ranch

We were lucky to be invited to go with KL to her twice-a-week adventure at the Doublebarrel Ranch in Mariposa. As you probably know she's been loving horses since she was seven years old. And now that she lives in the country she may even be able to be the proud owner of her own horse some day. But first her mom and dad want to be absolutely sure that she fully has the knowledge to care for such an animal. It's one thing to admire horses, but quite another thing to be able to care for one. JJ found out about this ranch through the local feed store in town. And twice a week seems to be a perfect match for KL's homeschooling schedule. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. What a fun and beautiful day it was.

"You want to ride Brandy? . . . then go get her and prepare her for the ride!"

So off she goes . . . out to the corral and brings Brandy back to get her all cleaned and brushed . . .

Pick her hooves . . . because it was pretty muddy out in the pasture.

Then KL went into the tack room and brought out the appropriate blanket and saddle . . .

Cinched the saddle up nice and tight . . .

Papa proudly watches and admires how well she has learned.

All saddled up for the lesson!

Mounting Brandy and preparing to ride!

One leg over . . . let's go!

All set . . . "I'll meet you in the ring!"

A nice pat for a good lesson!

Riding over obstacles.

A big smile after a great time in the ring.

After the lesson KL puts the blanket and saddle away, gives Brandy another cleaning and brushing, and another picking of the hooves and back to the pasture until the next time .

Life is good!