Deerhurst Stables - Pony Rides

     Our last day at Deerhurst... we were all very sad.  It had been an amazing vacation.  Everyone had been able to pick one activity that they would like to do.... everyone except Elly.  Elly had really wanted to ride a pony.  She was too little to do the trail ride, and the man at the recreation desk had told us that they only did pony rides on the week-ends now.  Elly was being brave, but kept saying that she really wanted to ride a pony.

     The day before we were to leave we gave it one last try.  This time we dealt with Lynn, our angel.  That woman does such an amazing job at her position.  She is a customer service expert and really made us feel like we were valued, and our vacation was important to her.  Lynn works at the recreation desk at Deerhurst.  There were a few things that she pulled some strings for us to do.  I just can't thank her enough for all of her hard work to make this family of 6's vacation the best it could be!  Lynn called down to the stables and she asked if they could do a pony ride.... and they could.  Between Lynn and Casey (from the stables) they made a little blonde girls dreams come true!!!!!  To make it worth their while we had to have three riders... done.  Riley was more than happy to help her little sister out.

Lynn Deerhurst's best resource

        I say "done" like it was easy and everyone was super excited.  The truth is that Rowan was not to keen on the idea.  I gave him the long winded speech about "We come from a long line of horse people".  His response was something like "Well I'm from Daddy's side!"  Finally I reminded him that this vacation was about doing things that we would not normally do, stepping outside of your comfort zone.  When that failed I fell back on the standard "It really doesn't matter if 'you' want to ... YOU'RE GONNA".  

     When we pulled up to the stables, I was craning my neck looking for "my" Titan.  I couldn't see him.  The two little girls were really excited.  Riley was already a horse girl, and Elly was a horse / pony girl in the making.  You could feel the high energy in the car.  Rowan on the other hand looked like he was going to the electric chair.

    When we got out of the car we saw Casey.  She greeted us with a big smile.  There were three ponies all tied to the fence, awaiting their little riders.  The girls face's lit up, Rowan's did not.  Each kid picked a pony.  Elly chose first.  She picked this little fat pony named Buddy.  She fell instantly in love.  Riley went next, and she chose Buddy, again, love.  Rowan chose Twister, not love at first sight, he was still resisting with all his might.

    Casey talked to the kids about the ponies and then they led their ponies out to the small field.

    Every time I looked at the girls they had these big broad grins on their faces.  This was an amazing experience that they couldn't wait to get started on.  Rowan still looked unsure, unhappy, but to his credit, he did it without complaint.

      Casey helped each of the kids mount their pony.  Riley looked a little funny on her pony because her long legs nearly trailed the ground.  Elly sat up there like a royal.  Her back straight, a grin just waiting to burst from her face like sunshine from behind a cloud.  This was what she had wanted, and been so disappointed when she couldn't do it.  This was living up to her expectations.  

    Casey led them around the field, and through obstacles.  They loved it!  I looked over at Rowan, the boy who had not wanted to do this.  He would not do me the satisfaction of a grin, but it was all he could do not to.  He was loving it.  He was doing something that scared him, and found out that it was so amazing.

    When the kids were done their ride (it lasted about half an hour) they got off their pony and led it back to the fence.  Casey then told them how to brush it.  They then went into the barn to get their pony  a treat.  There was an entire stall full of carrots.  The kids were delighted to feed their pony a carrot.

    We were all sad when it was time to go home.  Casey was amazing!  The kids loved their ride, and Rowan discovered that he liked horse back riding (he might look all Lindsay, but maybe he has some Haynes in him after all).  I am pretty sure that if you asked the three youngest kids what their favourite part of the vacation was, they would tell you the pony ride.  Rowan kept saying that he wished that there was a way we could have fit Twister in the back of our van.

     Our vacation was on it's last legs, it was time to drive home.  We most certainly be back. 

 Casey you haven't seen the last of the Lindsays!  We all did things that were outside of our comfort zone.  We pushed our boundaries and were all the better for it.