Friday, January 20, 2012

riding with the girls





i make the phone call and throw the saddle on the horse. she said a resounding "yes!" and i'm on my way riding down my dirt driveway. in ten minutes i'm there. i rein in my horse, scare the mean dog away yipping at his heals and cross the county road. their yards join each other and are almost exactly across the road from the end of my driveway road.


she and her cousin are usually on her front porch with their momma or dad, sometimes both. i wave as i trot over and they eagerly bounce up from the porch step. her and her cousin rock-paper-scissors to see who will ride first and then hop on behind me and the saddle. they are getting so experienced they are needing less and less help of a boost from her dad to get on. i wait until she's situated an we ride around her yard. we talk about school, neighbors, people who honk at us driving by on the road, dogs and church. she tells me how she wishes someone would just run over that mean dog of her neighbor's. about that time the dog runs up to us on the horse, barking loudly while showing convincingly mean teeth and she yells for her dad. i tell the dog "git" and he eventually high-tails it away.

it's her cousin's turn to ride and we go the same route, same conversations, same dog runs up. while riding, we smile often but laugh even more. these country girls long for and don't have a horse, but i do. i gladly ride over to their place each chance i get. these neighbor girls may be seven years younger than i, but we are becoming best of friends.

next time they call me up to come ride, i'll gladly brave the snarling dog to make a lasting memory and share a horse.



My new blog buddy, Aimme from Aspire to Inspire, included me on the Liebster (which means love) award. Aimee is a jewel and her blog is too. Thanks, friend!

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog
2. Link back to the blogger who awarded/nominated you
3. Copy and paste the blog award to your blog
4. Reveal your top 5 blog picks
5. Drop by your top 5 picks and let them know you chose them by commenting on their blog!

I award these dear friends:
Gina at Contemplating Beauty
Dusty at Dawson Cattle Company
Lindsey at Life with Linz
Naomi at Raindrops on Roses, Whiskers on Kittens
Melissa Jane at On the Inside


p.s. the blog's under construction... please pardon our progress.
(give + aways)
flex family arts
much love, illy

22 comments:

Elisha said...

awwwhh cute!!

Godsgirlz1 said...

Congratulations on the award!
Yeah! I can comment finally.

Elle Sees said...

happy weekend, memory!
i'm terrified of horses now. the last ride was in costa rica a few years ago and i got thrown off. but i'll admire them from afar, haha

Lindsey said...

So nice of you to lend yourself and your horse for a bit - I bet that just made those girls' day!! Aw, thanks so much for the award!!
xoxo

skippysays said...

Congrats on the award- that's super exciting!
www.saysskippy.blogspot.com

Why Girls Are Weird said...

Jealous, I want to go horseback riding!

Nichole said...

You have such a sweet heart. Such a blessing God has given to you to mentor to those precious girls!

Contemplating Beauty said...

THIS is so so sweet, you just made my WEEKEND memory, you are one of the most darlingest girls I am lucky to know. Bless your ever lovin heart sweetie!!!
I am humbled, <3

Contemplating Beauty said...

THANK YOU!!!

ElleSee said...

That's fantastic! I'm glad you're able to share your horse. I haven't been on a horse in a long time, and wish I knew someone that owned one so I could ride again :)

... said...

Look at you hun! You are such an awesome girl!

Naomi said...

I've always wanted to ride a horse. :) You're cool!

Thanks for the award! You're sweet, too! :)

xoxo

liz said...

Aww, this was so utterly sweet! Seriously. That is such a blessing to them I am sure!

What breed of horse do you have? I have a Palomino! I know, pretty random of me. :))

Cindi

Mrs. Darcy said...

So cute and sounds like fun! You know, we used to own race horses, but I am have never actually ridden a horse. I think I might take a trip to the stables in the spring and see if I can change that!

Kaela said...

Hey Memory-

Just wanted to remind you that you won my giveaway-but you are supposed to email/comment to claim the prize!

Bree said...

Of course were doing Fab Friday next week :) Hope to see you there!

Courtney said...

Adorable and (I'm a little jealous). I haven't ridden a horse in ages and it sounds like a blast! p.s. Thank you for saying I am diligent...so encouraging to me!!!

sherri said...

ooooh..love the new look!

Rachel Clarke said...

Aw, very cute!!! By the way, if you haven't figured this out yet, I found you through Janelle's blog. She's one of my best friends so I comment a lot and saw you were a frequent comment-er! :)

Unknown said...

Always impressed by horse riders. I have ridden a tiny bit, it is always harder than I imagine!

ashleymoranyoga said...

You are such a sweet friend! Great post-- and I love the new look of your blog! Keep writing doll! You have a gift!!!

Ly said...

You guys are just too cute! I've never ridden a horse before. That's on my bucket list for sure.

http://www.lyzhang.com