Rain, Rain...

This weekend I had a full schedule including attending the parade and helping with the stick horse races at Highfill Hay Daze, signing autographs at the Apple Festival in Lincoln and attending the Ozark Fall Carnival at Parson's arena. At 6am Saturday I awoke by thunder and had to put buckets underneath the roof leaks... that was a sure sign that Saturday was not going to go as planned. But I am NOT complaining about rain. As Luke Bryan put it, "Rain is a Good Thing"! Instead I spent the rainy day getting ahead on homework for the week and working on projects around the house. As a result, my weekly post is not going to be what I had planned. 

Even though I was unable to attend public events this past weekend, my duties are evident throughout the week. Being a rodeo queen extends a privilege of being a role model and taking every opportunity to promote the positive aspects of rodeo. Paisley is my boyfriend's  4 year old niece who tends to like the idea of riding a horse but is a bit nervous about actually getting close. That being said, if I was 3 foot tall looking up at giant animal, I'd be a bit timid as well. But when I asked her if she wanted to ride with me, she nodded her head without a hesitation. In a matter of minutes Paisley was manning the reins while I led her around as she named the different parts of the saddle and bridle I had just told her about (reins, stirrup, horns, seat, bit).


The next day (Thursday) an 8 year old boy, Collin, who is moving in next to the arena, kept watching us while we rode. When I started cooling Maximus off, Collin asked his parents if he could come up to the fence. I walked up and offered for him to pet Max then offered a ride (with his parents' permission of course). Collin was almost too confident so I had to warn him that you can never be too careful around a horse, especially one you don't know. The boy helped me cool off max, as I led him around, and he told me all about life! I'll be looking forward to seeing him around the arena once they get moved in.

It is truly an honor to be able to teach kids about horses, first hand. Even if it is just one or two, it is a difference made nonetheless.