A dedicated group of volunteers spent their Sunday giving kids their first exposure to our wonderful breed the Tennessee Walking Horse. As well as an Extreme Cowboy Race demonstration.
We arrived before 9am to get the horses ready for a day of giving pony rides to a total of 116 kids! Once brushed and saddled the horses and their leaders were ready for the onslaught of young kids. Many of the kids had never been on a horse, some were hesitant and others delighted. I was fortunate to have many chatty children, it makes walking in a circle for 5+ hours in the sun, a little more fun. After a lap or two if the child was interested they'd learn to hold the reins, stop, back up and maybe a circle or two. Other kids just wanted to hold onto the saddle and there were a few who once actually on a horse, weren't ready to try it yet. That's why there is always next year!
Pony rides were done in a morning and afternoon session. With groups of kids rotating between stations. In between the two sessions we had a team of parents and volunteers set up the arena for the Head to Head Extreme Cowboy Race demonstration. We were fortunate enough to have 7 volunteers to showcase the Young Guns, Youth, Novice and Pro divisions. The stands were full for the demonstration and they got to see the horses lope, go over bridges, jumps, and tarps. Riders pick up rings or water jugs from horse back, ground tie and much more. Our wonderful volunteers packed up all our obstacles as we tried to see how much we could actually fit in the trailer. It was a farmer version of tetris.
We arrived before 9am to get the horses ready for a day of giving pony rides to a total of 116 kids! Once brushed and saddled the horses and their leaders were ready for the onslaught of young kids. Many of the kids had never been on a horse, some were hesitant and others delighted. I was fortunate to have many chatty children, it makes walking in a circle for 5+ hours in the sun, a little more fun. After a lap or two if the child was interested they'd learn to hold the reins, stop, back up and maybe a circle or two. Other kids just wanted to hold onto the saddle and there were a few who once actually on a horse, weren't ready to try it yet. That's why there is always next year!
Pony rides were done in a morning and afternoon session. With groups of kids rotating between stations. In between the two sessions we had a team of parents and volunteers set up the arena for the Head to Head Extreme Cowboy Race demonstration. We were fortunate enough to have 7 volunteers to showcase the Young Guns, Youth, Novice and Pro divisions. The stands were full for the demonstration and they got to see the horses lope, go over bridges, jumps, and tarps. Riders pick up rings or water jugs from horse back, ground tie and much more. Our wonderful volunteers packed up all our obstacles as we tried to see how much we could actually fit in the trailer. It was a farmer version of tetris.
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The final group finished just before 4pm and then came the unsaddling and clean up. I'd like to thank all of our volunteers for all the hard work and time they put into showing off this wonderful breed. They pulled trailers, lead horses, set up the obstacles, made sure people and horses had water and so much more. I'd also like to acknowledge the youth volunteers. I watched our youth lead around young kids as young as 3. They made sure the kids in the saddle were okay. If they were nervous they encouraged them, the confident ones were shown how to hold the reins and do a little more. Our youth were professional ambassadors for the breed..
THANK YOU to all the volunteers for making this showcase a success
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