I've been out of the office this week, spending my mornings at Malone Farms Equestrian Center with RyAnne. She is doing summer camp there and having the time of her life! I heard about this camp through my client Melody Morgan. While I was photographing her newest addition, Mack (See his session here.) she began telling me about how her family owns and operates the farms and how they offer a summer camp program. During Mack's newborn session RyAnne was my sweet little helper and she heard Melody and I talking about the camp. After Melody and Mack left, RyAnne, out of no where, says with her arms crossed and tears in her eyes, "I'm NOT going to horse camp!" I was shocked because this seemed right up her ally. After talking with her about it I realized she was just terrified of the unknown. That's when I started doing some good ol' Facebook research! I found the farm's fan page and thankfully they had just posted pictures of the kids enjoying horse camp and fun activities - like painting the horses! She flipped through the album and said, "Okay. I'll try it out but you have to stay with me."
I agreed to stay with her the first day to see how she liked it. About an hour into riding, she asked me when I was leaving. lol This is totally her thing! By day two, she asked me not to stay. She said she needed her alone time. lol This kid!!!
So here we are day four, our final day of camp. Every day I pick her up, she's upset because she doesn't want to leave. The confidence she is gaining from riding horses totally amazes and inspires me. While she has a healthy fear of these animals, her respect and courage shines Oh So Bright! Her knowledge has grown and it's incredible to see her doing all these horse things on her own. This is one proud motha right here!!!
