Last weekend we took our two year-old twin daughters to the Chesapeake Eggstravaganza, an Easter egg hunt and carnival at Chesapeake City Park. One of the free activities was pony rides.
As we put our twins on the ponies, the woman who owned them mentioned that she had twin girls who were grown now. She gave us a bit of advice that their dad was eager to hear. She told us that her girls were really into horses and she was glad, because they weren't as interested in boys when they were teenagers as some of their peers. "The horses won, " she said. "They stayed away from boys about a year longer than we expected."
Definitely something to think about, although I wonder if the girls bribed her to say that so they could get D
addy to buy them a po
ny!
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Comments: 34
I never had a bit of trouble from her despite her getting a car at 16 and carrying my credit card. I can't say that all this was because of the horses but they did take quite a lot of her time so between her studies (all A's but one B in honors and AP coursed in high school and graduation with honors from college) and her horses she hardly had time for anything else.
It would be nice if every girl could have horses but they are very expensive and take a lot of space and work. (My wife's job paid for all that in our case.)
It sounds like you and your wife did a wonderful job raising your daughter!
We were very lucky in her.
I will admit that I did let her make lots of her own decisions even when 3-4 years old. I would tell her what would probably happen with each choice and let her decide. I also kept pointing out how she was benefiting from deferring gratification. Like taking the time to brush her teeth twice a day how her breath smelled fresh and she had no cavities when at the dentist.
Decision making is a learned skill. If you don't learn in childhood, you suffer for it in adulthood.
I work with horse at the race track before it left the town for good. I loved it yet the allergies were the killer
There are some great books out there on how to foster interest in the sciences in our daughters. I think now is the time to start. One thing you can do to counteract that whole cuteness thing is to emphasize how smart they are. Sort of like, "Thanks, but they're even smarter than they're cute!"
And I would agree. I certainly stayed out of trouble through the teen years, for the most part! ;) And even now, I think anyone that knows me well knows that Sarge is at the top of my list. My goal of having my own farm and doing rescue work has certainly kept me focused...
Horses are wonderful animals for teaching responsibility, patience and compassion, not to mention trust. And the feeling you get from riding cannot be replicated in any other way :)
Seriously, though, if they show interest in horses, I will definitely do my best to accommodate.
They are Adorable!