On Friday, we had another much anticipated visit to Agape complete with me taking incessant pictures of the fun! In a crummy coincidence, the weather on Friday was as gloomy, cold and damp as it was during our last visit. Despite the chill in the air, we had a blast! I just can't say enough positive things about Agape and its awesome staff and volunteers.
We started our visit by getting to know some sweet ponies. The kids led their ponies around the arena using the prompts we learned at our visit last week ("walk on", "whoa"). It was really wonderful seeing how eagerly the kids jumped into to this activity and how much information they retained and were able to apply from last week's horsemanship class.
Pony close-up!
We had a chance to get outside and lead our ponies around cones in an adjacent lot. Fun!
Ms. Rachel was our instructor and is incredible in the way she naturally prompts our kids, helping them gain confidence in their ability to interact with the ponies.
Next we headed back to the barn to review our grooming procedures. The kids completed a review of the cut and paste activity we worked on last week. They remembered all the different brushes and their order with few prompts from the adults!
Finally, we spent some time with Jitterbug, a sweet horse that lives at Agape. The kids practiced using each of the different grooming tools.
Here's one of my favorite pictures of the day: this kiddo worked so carefully using the hoof pick to dislodge dirt and debris from Jitterbug's shoe.
And then there's this beautiful girl. It took some coaxing, but she did a great job gently brushing Jitterbug.
We're loving this experience and are so thankful for the opportunity to spend time interacting with these sweet horses! With each visit the kids become more confident in their interactions; it's a joy to see them leading and grooming the ponies. Thank you to Agape for welcoming us!
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