a day in the country

Nothing beats a day in the country, and as always, I come away wishing I could give Will a similar childhood that Scott and I had in the country. I wasn't really raised around horses, but I've been around them quite a bit. Even though I never had a horse of my own, they bring back so many good memories, stopping by the canal behind our house to feed our neighbors horses, riding with my sister on her horse "Tug", going to rodeos to watch my Bull Fighter brother, going to rodeo's to watch my Rodeo Princess/Barrel Racing nieces, going out to say "hi" to Clover, Jesse's horse...... Just being away from the hectic city and seeing the country side, being around people who live a bit slower pace to life.... it's great, and someday, it'll be ours again! 

Good connections never hurt anyone, right? A man Scott works with has a beautiful ranch in rural OH. His lovely Native American wife runs a program where she uses a combination of horses and counseling to help young women and women suffering from cancer. She takes them through a process where she can work with them to correct their lives, make better choices, think positively about themselves etc. 

They were kind enough to invite us out to see their horses. They were incredible. We had a great time. It was really neat to hear all about what they do at the ranch and how they are helping society. Will had a great time seeing the horses.

This is all of us, Michael and Dominique (Scott's co-workers), Dakota (the horse), "Indian Rachel and Cowboy Rich" (as Will was calling them), and us.

Two very cute boys....

Me. Practicing a form of "kanugah (sp?)" on the horse. It is a way native americans use to bond with their horse, using certain petting, scratching, the horse in a certain pattern and in certain areas around their head, mouth, and ears/face. In the end, the horse loved me.... what can I say, I have the magic touch! ;)
Will wasn't so sure about the "kanugah" - especially after the horse "sneezed" right next to him.

Here's the "mini" that lives next door to the horses we saw. He was so cute, he was a baby mini to boot.... even cuter!
The mini liked Scott a lot, but Will was NOT impressed, especially since he kept "nipping" at people. Will dubbed him the "bad horse."

Another shot of my handsome boys...

Will did a great job feeding Dakota. He really loves animals and was having a great time at "Cowboy Rich's" barn. Except he kept asking me where Cowboy Rich's guns were? And why Cowboy Rich was getting in a car, everybody knows Cowboys don't drive cars!
This ginormous black horse (I don't have technical names here, people) was a big stud. That's stud in horse language.... although it isn't much different in people language either. He was proud, cocky, and a little scary. He's was especially scary after they informed us that this was the same type of horse that was used in Lord of the Rings (remember those big black horses??).
Although, I must say, was SO pretty. Look at him! Check out that tail and shiny coat, he was pretty incredible. I'm going to post a video of him running around too, it was fun to watch him go a little crazy.

We had a great time. Will came home with a cowboy hat and dream catcher from "indian Rachel."  He was pretty excited about all that we saw and watched. He was telling me that now he needs some cowboy clothes to go with his hat. I asked him what kind of clothes and he said "a belt buckle and some boots!" Of course, what was I thinking? Ummmmm Uncle Andy, or Aunt GayLynn, can you help me out here?? :) We had a fun day, we're hoping to head back down pretty soon for a fall festival and a rodeo.