{Hh}orse Week

We all had a hee-haw hoot-hollerin’ hat wearin’, horse ridin’, holster strappin’, heck of a week! Hoo-wee!

Letter Hh was well represented! First, we heard the story of letter Hh about the high hill he had to hike in a hurry and how daddy H had to hurry to rescue him. Huh-uh-huh! They were tired! Ask your child to rehearse that for you. It’s a fun story and hard to forget the sound of letter Hh.

We found lots of H words especially in our H story, hike, high, hill, hot, hard, help, hug, and home.

We actually colored our horse heads the day before our Christmas vacation so I could get a head start on them, but Monday, we cut and colored a cowboy hat, glued it to a plate and then, drew a face for him. When Abby said she couldn’t find the hat she had cut out, Tanner told her, “If you lose it, you have to say a prayer.” So cute! Tanner is always teaching us good things! Some of the girls wanted to turn their cowboys into cowgirls with eyelashes and curls. They were a hoot!

Wednesday, we had such a great time with Patches, my sister’s pony and the pony cart.

We also hung targets on the wall and while waiting for rides, the children practiced shooting with their marshmallow shooters, built a building with enormous Legos or laid a giant track to push large cars on. 

I asked the children what they liked about their day. Drew said riding the pony was his favorite part. Tolson said he liked shooting targets. “But, I’m only good at shooting arrows at targets.” Sam said the pony was very cute! Susy said, “I liked the horse because he goes really fast!” After each ride, I had the children give Patches a pat on the head and thank him for the ride. Oh, my goodness! It was so sweet to watch them approach Patches and touch and speak to him. I wish I could have captured that for each of you. It was a great day.

Thursday, we donned our vests and hats and found our stick horses in the corral. We spent some time naming all of the horses and I showed the children how to trot and then gallop on their horse. We grabbed the reins and lined up for the big trail ride. They followed me, (the big trail boss) around the yard. We all started with a trot and then circled the yard several times in a full gallop. Some got bucked off along the way, some trampled, but were brave enough to get right back on again. Then, we lined up a few at a time for horse races to determine the fastest horse. In the morning class, Abby’s horse, Onsa, beat Talli’s horse, Scarlett by almost a length! Trey and Marshall had to race their horses together several times to finally find a winner. In the end, Charlie Brown, Marshall’s horse, beat Fatch by a nose. Onsa was the fastest horse. Great riding!

The afternoon class was a heated race as well. Susy and Isla’s horses were neck and neck but Susy’s horse took the lead, beating Sugar only by a hair. Brody and Mason E. were the fastest boy horses. Brody rode Chicken Fingers to race the hard to beat, Cookie. Cookie ended up the fastest horse for the afternoon class. Way to go, Riders! I suspect Mason must have been riding a thoroughbred. His legs were definitely the longest!

We brought our horses in to rest and strapped our holsters on for the big shootout at the OK Corral. We marched back out and the feud began. Marshmallows flying in every direction! We had such fun.

I asked the children what they thought was the most fun. Drew said, “I liked shooting you and Miss Kristen the best!” Isla said, “I had a marshmallow stuck in my shooter!”  Brody said, “Mrs. McClure! I was in the playhouse and I shooted you in the hair! Ha, ha, ha!” Quinn said, “My Uncle Dylan is going to lay down on the couch and I’m gunna shoot him!” I asked, “When he’s asleep?” “No!  He doesn’t like that!”

I told the children that they had two shooters. They could give someone in the family the other shooter to use and have a shootout at home. Niki said, “I’m gunna shoot this with my mom!” We sent some bags of mallows home in some backpacks, but had to rob from a few to use them to fill some pouches. The children looked adorable in their hats, vests and holsters. I loved seeing them in a cluster. So, so fun! We had a great time.