Horseback Riding week 2

This week was number two for the Developmental Riding Program. Ethan got a new horse this week named Tootsie. His leader, and the horse from last week, decided that Ethan needs a bigger, stronger horse, so he was upgraded.

Tootsie is a horse that likes to go quickly... Ethan really enjoyed that.

After a quick go around the arena, the children and their horses made their way out to a new field. Here they were able to go through a tree "bridge", up a hill and down a hill, all the while learning new skills. One of the new ones is being able to semi-stand in the saddle as they are galloping up the hill.

Ethan was actually talking out loud to Tootsie, telling her to "walk on" and "woa". The children also learned a new command this week, "door" to drive the horses out the gates.

The children had a chance to have races again this week. They raced to have the first one finished win and also to have the last one finished win. This teaches the children to control their horses and the speed the they are moving at.

Of course, like any child, Ethan really enjoyed going fast on the horse and wanted to keep doing it.

His leader, as well as the other parents who've been involved with CODRP before, all say that Ethan is doing a wonderful job and is made for riding. Most importantly though, Ethan is having a great time and eagerly awaits the next lesson.

To show Tootsie how much he appreciates all her hard work, Ethan was allowed to give her a special treat of an apple. The children are asked to put the apple (or other treat) on the ground for the horses to pick up just to be sure there are no bitten fingers.