Bella & Madison

We had a great visit today from our friends Lori and Tom and their two adorable daughters, Isabella and Madison. The girls are also our goddaughters, so it's always wonderful to see them. We put them on Milagro, our steadiest horse, and rode them around the front part of the property and in the round pen, where there's soft sand in case something goes awry.

Later we piled into the truck and went in search of the mini-donkeys to pet them and hand out treats. When giving food to an equine, you have to be careful to hold your hand out flat so your fingers don't get caught up in the excitement. Horse and donkey teeth hurt when they bite down! Unfortunately Madison learned that lesson the hard way, as she tried to shove a cookie in the mouth of Sparky (our cutest and smallest donkey) while he was already chewing. I don't think she was hurt badly, and it was hard to tell if any skin even got broken, but it was pretty scary for a bit. Before too long though she was clamoring to get back down among them, so hopefully there was no long-term harm done, either physically or emotionally. That's one tough kid!

Some of the photos we took were priceless, I'll put them after the jump for those who are interested.

This is Bella, the oldest of the two, and as you can tell from this photo she's very shy, introverted, reserved, and demure. NOT!



I love, love, love this picture of Bella on Milagro. She looks totally confident, in control, and ready to do some galloping! After all, what would a princess be without a valiant charger to carry her among the adoring throng?



Then it was Madison's turn to get in the saddle. This child has no fear. Every animal is "Toby", which is the name of their dog at home. This was confusing to the horses, since one of them really is named Toby, but not the one she was either riding or talking to. I had to sit the horses down afterwards and explain it to them, which is tiring because frankly, horses aren't very bright.



Finally we moved on to the donkeys, where we learned that the maximum number of cookies you can shove into a minature donkey's mouth at one time is five, leaving no room for a finger.



We had a great time with the girls, and it's renewed our resolve to have a "Oops we forgot to have kids" party out here some time. There's something about the donkeys in particular that kids can really relate to, and I love seeing them get to experience animals up close and personal.