5 Things Every Horse Mom needs to know

5. They never take a nap when it’s time to feed or you want to ride.

It’s newton’s law of baby physics. They know……. Right now as I type this she’s asleep which worries me that she’s not feeling good, because she enjoys her mommy and me time being during what used to be me and my horse time. So if you choose to not hire a babysitter and have a hubby that works you’re going to be adopting vampire hours and day break riding so if it’s summer enjoy it if it’s winter, hit an Under Armour sale on Zulilly and stock up you’re going to need it.

4. Halters and Bits make excellent chew toys.

You think I’m kidding but you can sit a child in a pack in play in the middle of the barn with 375.98 worth of scientifically proven developmental toys that make enough noises to elicit a seizure and if your child is close enough to a bridle rack then the dogs teeth marks will not be the only ones on whatever they can get ahold of. A 7.99 rope halter is my daughter favorite toy in the barn and will pacify her till at least halfway through feeding and haying 20 head of horses. That’s a long stretch for a 10 month old.

3. They are happy in the stroller while you ride until….

On a pretty day more than once my husband and I have plopped our daughter in the stroller and wheeled her out into the arena and put it in a safe place while we rode together. And more than once she’s been perfectly content while we saddle, mounted and got the horses warmed up just enough to be ready to get something done and then she’s let forth an ear splitting whale that could get DHS called on us if we lived in that kind of neighborhood where people put kids in time out. They judge distance at an early age so be advised the farther from the stroller you get the louder they get, till the coyote family that lives behind you in the woods is whaling with them at the ear splitting agony.

2. Horse Poop build’s immunity,

No I don’t let my child eat horse poop but she has managed to get handfuls of arena dirt in her mouth and swallow before I could get her stopped. So far she remains happy and healthy and I’ve not had to run a tub of Sand Clear through her yet. So don’t fret if you have to set your little one down in the barn aisle for a second and there’s nowhere clean enough. If you have horses around you know those mud pies they are going to eventually make you are manure pies and you’re going to happily pretend to eat them while praying you didn’t just worm everything on the place.

1 They mimic everything you do including to horses.

The other day while she was playing in her pack in play in the barn I was grooming a horse who tried to bite me because she was convinced the bot fly I was trying unsuccessfully to catch was my fault. I popped the mare in the muzzle with a well-timed smack and went on chasing the bot fly. I looked over and she was watching. 2 days later I’m sitting in the living room and she is trying to get on her rocking horse and he’s giving her fits sliding around on the carpet as she tries to get the correct leg lifted. Finally she steps back and looks at me and then reaches out and smacks him flush on the side of the head. All I can say is thank the good lord her first words were Dada!