Horseback Riding and Tractor Driving

 As I mentioned in my first post, there are several horses on Grandma's farm (and one donkey):

Haha! That picture ^ makes me laugh! ...and we got to ride some of them! I'd ridden a pony before when I was nine years old, but that was also ten years ago. (Amazing how time flies, huh? I feel so old!)

 I remembered quite a bit from my first experience, mostly the brushing part before you buckle up the saddle, but the first time, Lisa used a lead rope for me. Unlike last time, this time I was maneuvering the horse myself!

"You are in control of the horse," Edit explained, "But if you just let her go wherever she wants, she will! You must demonstrate that you are in control and you know what you're doing. Otherwise she won't trust you." But I don't know what I'm doing!!

They showed me how to use the reins--pull outward, but don't tug. The pressure should come from your legs, not your hands. Make a certain noise when you do it. If she goes too fast, give a quick pull on the reins and say "ho" and she'll stop. (Really? I hope so...)

Horse: 1 Misha: 0

Unfortunately, the horse somehow must have known that I didn't know what I was doing because she kept returning to the barn without my direction. See that picture ^? Yeah, my arm out to the side like that is supposed to tell the horse to go right, but stubbornly she stayed. "You're a natural!" Edit told me. "Really? Because I don't feel like it right now!" The whole episode was pretty comical, which resulted in me laughing at myself a lot.

 ^ This is not my "I am a master of the horse" face. This is my "ohmygosh this is so embarrassing go that way" exasperated face. Or maybe this was taken before the horse started moving.... I can't remember.

Submission at last!

Meanwhile, back on the ranch....

Cameron was learning how to drive a tractor!

I love this because when Greg mentioned it, he said, "I love to take kids who are addicted to videogames and get them out in the outdoors doing Stuff!" Turning to Cam, he said, "Driving a tractor is even better than videogames because there's risk involved! If you make a wrong move on a controller, nothing bad happens. But if you pull a wrong lever on a tractor, there could be all sorts of consequences!" He listed a few like getting seriously hurt (extreme) or plowing through a fence (mild/medium). I have never heard tractor-driving sound so exciting and awesome before!

And even though Cam was super nervous, by the end of the day, he was a total tractor pro!

(But I highly doubt his video game days are over. Oh well. Thanks for trying, Greg!)

There were a lot of firsts for Cam this trip. Aside from the tractor driving, this was also his first experience horse-back riding! He seemed to enjoy it, even though he made weird faces for the camera. That's okay! I got some great photos anyways.