Horse Sense

This is a horse farm where kids (girls, mostly) can "rent" a horse. A young girl forks over her allowance and babysitting money for the privilege of taking care of a horse twice a week and occasionally riding it. On the surface this may not make any sense -- why pay to take care of someone else's horse? But now that I'm a parent, I see perfect sense in this arrangement.

My own parents unwittingly cured me of my horse phase once and for all by sending me to horse camp after two years of begging on my part. For two miserable weeks, I spent 90% of my waking time shoveling crap, applying fly repellent to the horses, polishing saddles, and grooming a bedraggled old horse. The other 10% of the time, I got to ride the horse, mostly in circles around a small ring. I'm sure it was too old and tired to break into more than a trot. I never mentioned anything about ever again wanting a horse after that summer.

When the time comes, after I've said "no" to getting my daughter a pony for the 500th time, I'll relent. I'll act as though I'm finally giving in -- compromising -- and I'll gladly send her (and her hard earned allowance) to the horse farm.



(Snapped this shot, ironically enough, on our way to a My Little Pony birthday party.)