Girl Scouts Cowgirl Up

As I have said in some of my past columns, one of the things I love about Clayton is it equine friendliness. It’s hard not to like horses. And if you don’t, you sure have to respect them for their sheer beauty, strength and long association with humanity.

It is that love and respect for horses that is unique to Clayton. Its rural roots have been saved for future generations, whereas other communities have moved on. Those future generations can do more than simply gaze back upon Clayton's history with curiosity. They can participate in it.

With a plethora of horse boarding and training facilities in the area, anyone can mount up and take to the miles of trails in Clayton and the .

My daughter’s Girl Scout troop worked on their “Horse Fan” badge Sunday. It was an opportunity to be among horses and capture some images of these young girls experiencing a horse, in some cases for the first time.

We met at Brookside Ranch on Morgan Territory Road at 1 p.m., where owner Sandy Brooks took the girls on a tour of the horse stables. Brooks boards horses and holds riding lessons.   

A former school teacher from Pleasant Hill, Brooks is a natural at introducing horses to a group of 10-year-old girls.

The girls were introduced to miniature ponies and goats in one stable. Then we moved on to several of the full-sized horses.

In one stall, she let the girls peek at a group of bantam chickens.

“We do rooster rescue for Concord Feed,” said Brooks. “Any bird that people don’t want, we keep them here and raise them. If we can’t find a home for them, they stay here with us.”

Brooks then told the girls that they were welcome to take a chicken home as a pet.

My daughter looked at me, jumping up and down, begging for a bantam chick.

Great, I think to myself. How am I going to get out of this one?

“They will get big, honey,” I tell her. “No, these are bantam chicks, they stay small, just like you see them now.”

Thanks Sandy, I murmur under my breath.

The girls then moved on to a basic introduction to tack and learned to groom the horses they were about to work with.

Hair and dust were flying as, curry brush in hand, every girl prepped the horse for riding.

Once cleaned up, “Scooter” was saddled up and each girl walked the horse down the driveway.

“Cowgirl up,” Brooks told the girls sternly when they did not put their shoulder into the horse to get him to stop. “You have to be tough if you’re going to work with a horse.”

The girls began riding Scooter in the arena and worked up to a trot, with the horse on a lead. It was the first many of the girls had been on a horse. Their smiles said it all.

When the lesson was almost over, “Jackpot,” one of the miniature ponies the girls had met earlier, was put on a lead and each girl got to jump him over an obstacle.

By this time, I was looking for a way to make my escape without a bantam chicken riding home with us. My only saving grace was not having a proper enclosure to house the bird and protect it from predators.

I didn't get off that easy, though. No chickens came home with us Sunday, but might in the near future. I’ll keep you posted on my plans to build a chicken coop.