Family Horseback Ride

On the way home from the Reunion we stopped at Ramey Ranch in Overguard, AZ for a family horse ride. Most of our kids had never been on a horse before which made it an adventure. It was beautiful weather and a lot of fun. I was a little nervous going into it realizing my kids were not going to be led or anything. This Horse Ranch was a lot more laid back and less organized than my previous horse experience. No helmets; sketchy waiver, and real easy going cowboys. 

Callie's horse Sunflower aka "Grandma Horse" was really SLOW. I was happy she didn't have a crazy horse but Ron and I kept getting behind her and smacking the horses' bum to get her to pick up the pace a little. At one point I even took the guide rope myself to try pulling Sunflower along... that didn't seem to work much either. Grandma just liked to stroll at her own pace.

Ron and April rode Dolly, a feisty horse. Before the ride Dolly was snacking on some hay and kept snapping at other horses trying to snack close by her. She also kept trying to pass Sunflower on the ride and didn't want to stay behind her. April seemed to enjoy the ride and LOVED her horses name. She mimicked Ron talking to the horse with commands like "Whoa" or "No" or "Yee-haw!"

My horse was Bonita. I was told "she likes to go outside the lines so keep her in check" This made me nervous but we got along just great. She listened really well to me and only gave me attitude a couple times when I tried to stop and take pictures, she also didn't like when we had to slow down for Sunflower. I even got a small gallop out of her on the ride which was really fun. 

Noah's horse "Blondie" was the "wild one" She was a little more than he could handle. He seemed to have a hard time guiding her. I think his horse didn't like to be crowded and didn't want to respond to Noah's prompts or pulls. So our guide started leading Noah's horse to help control her. 

Mason's horse Goldie seemed to get a long great with Mason. She followed his commands and Mason looked so natural riding her. Goldie's only flaw was irritating Blondie and following Noah too closely. (Noah's horse did NOT like this)

We had a lot of fun. I'm really glad we did this, hopefully we can do it again sometime soon. I love experiencing new things with my children.