Ride 'Em Cowboy!

With football season coming to an end for some of the scouts, and an opportunity to ride horses, what a great turnout we had for our scout meeting.

Ten scouts anxious to jump in the saddle and "ride like the wind, Bulls Eye!" (Thank you Toy Story 2)

But before they could ride like the wind, it was time to learn about safety first.

So this is how you work your way around the back end of a horse. This is one of those situations where closer is better to the wrong end of the horse.

The scouts learned you don't just throw a saddle on and hit the dusty trail. It takes care and precision to get a horse ready to ride.

Before riding, it is important to learn how to walk the horse first. This gives the horse and rider a chance to get to know one another.

Our merit badge counselors, Paul and Craig, really emphasized the importance of being a leader and making sure the horse knew who was in charge without being mean or abusive.

Attentions spans were short when we had to wait our turn to ride.

So who has the happier face, Garrison or the horse?

Kyle was so busy smiling for the camera he forgot who was driving. He's supposed to be turning left.

Care and maintenance of the horse is critical to its well-being and cooperation with its rider. Part of getting a horse ready to ride and when taking care of the horse after a ride is caring for the hooves properly.

The scouts were shown out to clean the hooves and then they all got to take a turn at it as well.

The final part of the evening was to put the horses in their own individual stable and feed each horse a treat.

We learned from a sign inside that "Horse people are stable people." Maybe that's why the scouts had so much fun learning about horses. It's such a stable environment.




Next week we complete the merit badge by learning the names of the equipment used in riding and what the different parts of a horse are called. The scouts will be equestrian geniuses by the time we're done! Yeehah and let 'em buck!