Ropin' and Ridin'

We had another rare Saturday yesterday, with absolutely no plans.  It was awesome.  So we decided to go to the ranch and spend some good time outdoors. 

Inspired by the rodeo trick riders, this Cowboy tried his hand at some trick-horse-swing-riding.  Maddie got in on the fun, too.  Her main trick was holding on with only one hand--daring, I know!  By the end of the day, both were riding this swing at the same time, with Jackson pretty much upside down. 
They were quite the pair, with smiles as big as Texas.

After they were finished with the swing, it was time to see if the horses were hungry.

Turns out they love cookies.  And really, who doesn't?  All the kids fed the horses at least once.  I think they were a little weirded out by the size of the horsey teeth! 

After making friends with all the horses, we headed down to the barn. 
Every good Cowboy needs his hat and canteen.

It came in handy when this little guy got thirsty.

Boom has been on a mission to find a saddle and bridle small enough to fit Mr. Dub.  So it was with great pleasure when Mr. Dub was finally all saddled up and ready to ride!  Jackson was first up.

We're not sure if Mr. Dub has ever had a human on his back in his 15 years of life, so they walked around the small pen first, just to make sure he wasn't going to wig out. 

While Lila took her turn, these two played on the haybales.  They get so happy when they are around hay! 

Lila kept telling my dad, "Ready!  Me ride Mr. Dub!"

And she did!  She did great.  Made a circle and that was good enough. 

Madison was next and did good until something spooked Mr. Dub. 

He kind of went haywire for a second.  All of a sudden he jerked, spun around and tried to run away.  Thank goodness Boom was right there!  And thank goodness that Maddie didn't fall off!

After the mini-horse calmed down, Cowboy Jack wanted to take him for a ride in the big pen.  After walking almost the entire way around it with Boom leading him, he got to try it himself.  They did great! 

While the boys were getting the other horses ready for their ride, the girls and I went over to visit the new baby calf.  He's only 3 weeks old.  His mama is only 21 months old herself, so my dad was concerned that she might be too young to nurture him well, but we were very glad to see that they were doing just fine:)

The boys all went for a ride and the girls and I found them down in the second pasture with the llamas.  Isn't God's creation so beautiful? 

Jared and J wanted me to get them on Doc while he was galloping.  Right as I went to snap the pic, though, Jackson's hat blew off.  While Jared was trying to catch it, I guess he maybe pulled on Doc's reigns, which didn't exactly thrill the horse.  Jared finally had to let the hat fall and get the horse back under control!  Oh well, better luck next time!