Intrepid Explorers
This morning Xavier booked a riding time at the local stables. He invited Marcus to ride along as it were, and Xavier found himself filled with excitement. The Walls found him on the beach not that long ago, and he has no memories of before then, so he can't recall ever having been on a horse before. That said, this should be fun.
The stable owner knew greenhorns when she saw them, so she gave the boys two of her quietest horses, Shadow and Whiplash. She told the boys they had to saddle their own horses. Luckily, they're both stronger than they look.
Whiplash was a gentle giant, in spite of his name, and let Xavier saddle him without trouble. Since Xavier had never ridden before, he could use the English style saddle that Whiplash was used to without it being strange for Xavier.
Marcus claimed to have ridden before and was given the Western style saddle that Shadow preferred.
"I got this," Marcus bragged.
Shadow eyed Marcus warily. She'd heard that before, and bad things usually followed.
With the horses saddled, it was time to lead them out. Xavier felt a tingle of excitement run up his spine. He was going to get to ride!
The owner told them always to mount up on the left side, so they obeyed.
Xavier was a bit uncertain of himself and leaned heavily on Whiplash for support as he swung himself over the horse's back.
For all his big talk, Marcus had even more trouble mounting up than Xavier did. As he slipped, slid, and scrambled up, his hat almost fell off and so did he!
"Why do I always get the overconfident ones?" Shadow rolled her eyes.
Finally, Marcus made it up and, holding the reins, he almost looked like a real cowboy.
Xavier made it up too, and sat back, very pleased with himself. "Move 'em out!" he cried enthusiastically.
The boys rode for as long as they could stand the heat. In the shade of the trees and the cool grass, the breeze kept them cool enough to ride for an hour. Xavier, not yet comfortable with the horse's movements, tended to lean back a bit in the saddle, but otherwise he had a lot of fun.
"I guess we should begin heading back," Marcus decided at last.
"All right," Xavier reluctantly agreed, but he would definitely be coming back again!
The boys thoroughly enjoyed riding in the backyard, even though we didn't spend a lot of time out with them. It's been really hot here for the last two days, so we didn't want to stay outside for very long. It was fun to see Whiplash in the great outdoors as well.
Meanwhile, while we were out, Loki found himself a new place to be that he thinks is really comfortable...
It's Jack's blue wig! I don't think he'll be too pleased.
"I don't care. He can have it!" Jack shouted.
And there you have it. Loki's comfy fur chair. Look at that mischievous little face. He looks like he's eating an invisible donut. Or maybe it's only invisible because he finished it just before I got there... I'm on to you, Loki.
~SilverStar-Burst
The stable owner knew greenhorns when she saw them, so she gave the boys two of her quietest horses, Shadow and Whiplash. She told the boys they had to saddle their own horses. Luckily, they're both stronger than they look.
Whiplash was a gentle giant, in spite of his name, and let Xavier saddle him without trouble. Since Xavier had never ridden before, he could use the English style saddle that Whiplash was used to without it being strange for Xavier.
Marcus claimed to have ridden before and was given the Western style saddle that Shadow preferred.
"I got this," Marcus bragged.
Shadow eyed Marcus warily. She'd heard that before, and bad things usually followed.
With the horses saddled, it was time to lead them out. Xavier felt a tingle of excitement run up his spine. He was going to get to ride!
The owner told them always to mount up on the left side, so they obeyed.
Xavier was a bit uncertain of himself and leaned heavily on Whiplash for support as he swung himself over the horse's back.
For all his big talk, Marcus had even more trouble mounting up than Xavier did. As he slipped, slid, and scrambled up, his hat almost fell off and so did he!
"Why do I always get the overconfident ones?" Shadow rolled her eyes.
Finally, Marcus made it up and, holding the reins, he almost looked like a real cowboy.
Xavier made it up too, and sat back, very pleased with himself. "Move 'em out!" he cried enthusiastically.
The boys rode for as long as they could stand the heat. In the shade of the trees and the cool grass, the breeze kept them cool enough to ride for an hour. Xavier, not yet comfortable with the horse's movements, tended to lean back a bit in the saddle, but otherwise he had a lot of fun.
"I guess we should begin heading back," Marcus decided at last.
"All right," Xavier reluctantly agreed, but he would definitely be coming back again!
The boys thoroughly enjoyed riding in the backyard, even though we didn't spend a lot of time out with them. It's been really hot here for the last two days, so we didn't want to stay outside for very long. It was fun to see Whiplash in the great outdoors as well.
Meanwhile, while we were out, Loki found himself a new place to be that he thinks is really comfortable...
It's Jack's blue wig! I don't think he'll be too pleased.
"I don't care. He can have it!" Jack shouted.
And there you have it. Loki's comfy fur chair. Look at that mischievous little face. He looks like he's eating an invisible donut. Or maybe it's only invisible because he finished it just before I got there... I'm on to you, Loki.
~SilverStar-Burst
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