A few weeks ago Caitlin made up a flyer asking for unpaid experience with horses, offering to help groom, feed, ride, whatever people needed. She designed and wrote it herself, then went in to the post office and asked if she could put it up, and walked over to the feed store and asked to put it up there as well.
On Friday a lady rang in response to her ad, saying that she had 2 Shetland ponies and was getting older and a bit fragile and so not able to handle them as much as she'd like, so would Caitlin like to come and help her. The answer of course was an extremely excited YES, so yesterday afternoon I took Caitlin over to meet the lady and her ponies.
The ponies are gorgeous, all black, and a little skittish from not being handled much lately. The lady brought them out into the garden, and Caitlin asked lots of well thought out questions about the ponies, as she walked them around on a lead rope for a while, and then started grooming them (she'd taken her own grooming kit). She was able to groom two of them to some extent (one wouldn't let her stand on its right side - but being a small pony, Caitlin was able to lean over and brush at least some of that side, while standing on the left). She picked up their feet (and had problems with one not wanting her to do it - then let it smell the hoof pick and then it was happy to oblige). She went out on the road and brought 2 of them back in after they had escaped down the driveway. The 3rd pony wasn't quite ready for someone new to groom her yet, although Caitlin did manage to rub it's coat a little. She worked with the horses for a bit over an hour, then helped to get them back into the barn (after she mucked it out). The owner was thrilled with Caitlin's competence and the fact that she's found someone to help her. Caitlin loved the ponies and could have stayed there all day - she talked about them all afternoon and evening and is keen to go back as soon as she can. She was very professional and confident and handled the horses easily, and when they were uncooperative she backed off and tried something different - I think they will get used to her quickly and it will become even easier.
It was an exciting experience for everyone involved (and she even earnt $10 - while I got a big bag full of tomatoes from the owner's garden - she can't eat them all and was happy that they won't be going to waste) and it looks like it will be an ongoing relationship which will benefit everybody involved. It's so cool too that it was organised almost entirely by Caitlin herself. The lady was very positive about homeschooled kids too, said that she's noticed that homeschoolers are more interested in learning and learn from everything they experience. And the bonus for her is that Caitlin can come at any time, rather than having to fit it in around the school day. As everyone gets more comfortable too I will be able to drop her off and not need to stay the whole time.
In the morning C had a riding lesson at her friend's house, so it was a very horsey day - there was also a swim in her friend's pool, and a shopping trip with her, so Caitlin came home very tired and very satisfied with her Saturday.
LiAM and I watched another X-Men movie while Caitlin was at her friend's house (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and the afternoon before we'd watched X-Men) which we both enjoyed, and which led to us doing some research on the relationships between everyone in the movies and trying to figure out the timeline (which I know is tricky with the X-Men stories, it doesn't all necessarily follow, but it was fun finding out some of the background information).
Tony had yesterday off work and slept until well into the afternoon - it's great that he has a chance to catch up a little bit after getting so little sleep through the week. He played a bit with the kids when he got up, and then we had Indian takeaway for dinner - butter chicken is everyone's favourite meal. We all sat at the table together to eat - doesn't happen very often and it's quite special when it does. Once we'd eaten we played Chinese Whispers - hilarious as usual.
It was a beautiful evening (had been a gorgeous day, although quite warm standing in the sun with the horses, it had cooled down a lot by dinner time) and we all went outside. Kids played on the trampoline, Tony and I watched, then the kids and I played hide and seek while Tony went to help a friend who had a flat tyre.
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