Maria loved horse camp last week. Actually, I need a stronger word than love – she adored horse camp. My little anti-competitive girl finally showed some competitive spirit when she came in second in Showmanship rather than first. She told Jon “she should have come in first and gotten the trophy.” It took riding to bring out that spirit.

We went to watch her ride on Friday afternoon. The farm seems really nice and clean and they have a lot of riders from OSU there. Maria strutted out of the barn on a huge horse named Wes. He was taller than me. My first experience with a horse was when I was older than Ri, probably 10, and I was scared too death. My dad had to sit with me on it because I cried and shook when I got on it by myself. Contrast that with Maria, age 7. Here she was riding past me poised and smiling and completely comfortable. What a woman!

She rode around the ring with three other students. She trotted. She performed obstacles. It was pretty amazing to watch. Jon has been around horses and has a love for them. He knows the names of different riding styles and different breeds. Me, I know little to nothing besides what Meg has imparted. It is going to take some time for me to appreciate the sport like I do baseball or soccer but I will get there if Maria loves it. When we went into the stables and saw all of the horses, you couldn’t help but fall in love with them. Beautiful, elegant, smart creatures and Maria knew everyone of their names. You could sense she felt right at home.

When Mario walked up to one and made crazy sounds around it, she snapped at him explaining to him that he could spook the horse. She’s got it going on. She wants to take private lessons now that camp is over. She told Jon she wishes she were at the camp today. Yep, she’s got horse riding in her blood.