*Disclosure: Affiliate links may be included.*
You’ve probably heard someone say that horse girls are tough. I’d say that is true, horses can make some tough kids. When Maggie started riding at the young age of four, I was always nervous. Truth be told…I am likely far more nervous now that she knows so much! My worry when she was so young was that she is leading around these giant horses and I had absolutely no horse knowledge or experience. I still remember my first time offering to help. Melissa, the barn owner said, “Sure, go grab Ruby in the pasture. She’s the brown horse.” Then handed me a halter. I think she was still just screwing with me, ha! I got out there and ALL. OF. THE. HORSES. were brown or some shade of brown. And that halter she handed me….absolutely no clue what to do with it. I laughed, she laughed. It was a good memory and a mom helped me. In fact, everybody helped me learn things along the way.
Fast forward ten years and I can do a lot! I may still bring in the wrong horse but whatever! Maggie also knows a lot. Like, seriously, a lot! And she’s earned the respect of a lot of other people because of how she carries herself, treats the horses, her riding abilities and her willingness to do anything at the barn. She has worked so incredibly hard to train her horse. Now, she’s been training another young horse. It was terrifying for me when she started, but now – those horses are pretty amazing! It blows my mind that at 14, she has bought her own horse with money she has earned herself from doing work, including picking up a ton of dog poop. All of this to say, she works with a lot of horses every day she’s at the barn and some of them aren’t very safe horses. She loves it! The thing with horses though, is that at some point, you are bound to get hurt. She’s taken some pretty good falls off horses over the past years but nothing too major. Last week, well…let me tell you all about last Monday…but first, enjoy this picture of the newest horse baby. He’s so cute! 
I went to pick her up from the barn. I walk in and she has her hand wrapped in vet wrap. Now, I wouldn’t put it past her to do that just to mess with me.
Me: Why do you have vet wrap on your hand?
Maggie: A horse kicked my hand. I think it’s fractured.
Me: Ahhh. So, you didn’t ride much today?
Maggie: Oh, yeah. I got on that horse and rode after that.
Me: Makes perfect sense to me. Did it occur to you to tell one of the adults here? Or perhaps call me?
Maggie: No. I had horses to work with.
I told her we should go have it looked at. She told me it would have to wait until morning, she had dance that night. And so we did. And it was fractured. The doctor thought it was an interesting fracture because it’s at a horseshoe type shape instead of a break you would normally see.
How did the conversation at the doctor go? I asked the danger of her riding with it because she had every intention of going directly to the barn from the doctor. Thankfully, we all agreed to ride safe horses until the hand is fully healed. What have we done since then? Well, she’s been at the barn 6 days since then and one was for a gaming show that she ran two horses in. I’ve really adapted in my life.. Now I just expect it, ha! All anybody says when they see her is of course she’s riding still as if there was no other option…and for her, there really wasn’t.
