Checking Out a Pony

We have been in the market for another kid horse.  Peter Pan is good but the kids hate him because he rolled in some sand while Cecilia was riding him on a trail ride.  They are all very afraid to ride him anywhere and it is too bad because he is fun to ride, he is quiet, he walks slow and nothing bothers him.  He just is young and seems to love to roll when he is sweaty, but we have been working on correcting that.  Ollie is wonderful but the 3 older kids fight over him.  Someone Diane knows thru rodeo contacted about the fact that they were selling their pony.  Diane had seen the pony at rodeos and thought it would be a good fit for Vincent and Cecilia.  The problem was that the pony was 4 hours away and between International Night, baseball, 4-H, teaching Sunday school and the Daddy Daughter dance we were struggling to get down to see the pony at a time when both Brad and I were available.  Grandma and Grandpa were going to be close to the pony so we sent Vince with them to go check it out and see what they thought.  Part of the trip involved hanging out with Uncle John, Aunt Michelle, his cousins, and their friends, so Vincent was excited to go on a last minute trip.

Cecilia loves him!  Vincent does a great job riding him but I only have videos of him and no pictures.

Long story short after some rain days Brad was able to go with Cecilia and Diane to check out the pony.  I stayed home to keep things running.  I wanted to go but it was a lot easier to take care of therapy, homework, etc myself than to make someone else do it.   They came home late that night with a very cute pony named Speckles.  He is a sweetheart!  Vincent is not impressed by horses.  He is very matter of fact about it and doesn't get too excited by the horses.  He came home excited about how good the pony was.  Cecilia couldn't have been any more excited about the pony.  Brad said she didn't stop smiling after she saw the pony.  Even Brad liked him and considering he is a flashy paint pony (the opposite of everything Brad likes) I was very surprised.

Dean wearing Cecilia's helmet and getting a ride on Zuma.  I always walk beside him but Zuma picks up his speed if I am walking to close.  So I nervously stay a few steps away.

The rest of us like him too but we don't all love his name, so there is a bit of a struggle about what he will be called Speckles or Zuma.  I like Zuma better and so do Dean and Brad.  We are working on convincing the other kids it is a good name.  It is a name of a Paw Patrol character which is why Vince isn't on board yet.  Cecilia and Vincent just don't think we should change his name.  We were discussing his name and Dean said "I say I named him Zuma.  His name is Zuma." and he walked over to him and insisted on riding him.  For now we call him Zuma and tell the kids his real name is Speckles Zuma and they can call him Speckles or Zuma so everyone can be happy.  I am 75% sure they will all start calling him Zuma eventually because Dean corrects them every time they say Speckles.