Today, my two oldest children competed in a practice 4-H horse show. Sierra, 12, rode her four year old palomino paint Raffiki, which she won from a "contest" (more about that later) and trained herself (despite getting bucked off, more about that later, too). Wesley, 10, rode his 20-something chestnut Quincy. At the last event, Raffiki did not listen to Sierra, but did lope pretty well at the last. I thought for sure Sierra would be upset, but she was smiling when she went out of the gate. Wesley got third place ribbon (white) for halter. With a smile, he said as he left the arena: "He did a lot better than other times!"
Their smiles melted my heart.