Horsing around

The Boy made other arrangements, but the Man and I accompanied the Girl to a horse-riding experience with her Girl Scout friends. They were there to earn their 'Horse Lover' and 'Horseback Rider' badges.

To qualify as a Horse Lover you have to know something about horses and how to look after them, and a thorough instruction programme was laid on by the 4Ms Farm in Castleton. First, an introduction to equine vocabulary (mares, geldings, withers, girths, measuring in hands etc). The girls were taught the basic anatomy of a horse (did you know horses have very small stomachs but their intestine is 75 feet long?), and learnt about horse welfare. They tried their hands at grooming, and then at last the horses were tacked up ready for the Horseback Rider part of the action.

Most of the girls hadn't much, if any, riding experience (our Girl had none at all), but the horses were all very used to kids and novices and were reassuringly placid. The riders all did several circuits, led round by stable assistants, and those that wanted had a go at trotting. There was some sort of horseback frisbee-throwing contest, which the Girl won!

Everyone agreed that they'd had a great time. It was, however, perishing cold out, and by the end of the session I for one was happy to move on to a cafe for a warming cup of hot chocolate.