Horses - One Interest Two Bents

Alina is 13 and Tiana will soon be 15 and somewhere around 8 years ago their mutual interest in horses became apparent.  Over the years I have provided them with riding lessons when we could afford it.  One year they volunteered to muck out stalls though they were not able to ride.  A little over a year ago their riding lessons were stopped due to my husband being laid off.   This was about the time I began to get re-involved with Lifestyle of Learning and I was hearing things relating to children “proving their interest.”   I had noticed that my girls interest in horses was focused mainly on taking lessons or being around them.  I had encouraged the girls to read books and try to learn more about horses to help them get more out of their lessons, yet they didn’t do that.  This caused me to wonder if they were really interested in horses or more interested in being provided something fun to do, if their interest in horses was based more on entertainment.  The idea of encouraging our kids to “prove their interests” was an answer to my concern.  I explained to the girls when we stopped the lessons they could continue their interest in horses through learning all they could through books from the library, etc. and I explained to them the principle of “proving their interest.” 

Initially I didn’t see much activity and wondered if this was my answer to my concerns about the horses being more of an entertainment for the girls.  Then all of a sudden I began to see different things happen in two different ways.  I didn’t know it at the time, but two bents for the same interest were beginning to be developed and would eventually be revealed to me.

Tiana ordered lots and lots of books from the library, and still does.  She looked through different horse magazines picking one to subscribe too.   She has been reading about the different types of horsemanship, reading about how horses think, and learning differences in breeds.  She has practiced drawing horses with pencil and on the computer, she has recorded breeds,  and has written short stories that include horses.  

Alina, on the other hand, wasn’t delving into the books so much, though she  enjoys  reading  stories about horses or that include horses.  She began to collect Schleich model horses and play with them.  Alina’s bent towards imagination was noticeable since she was very little, creating imaginary stories with various objects,  including toothbrushes, since she was a toddler.  At the time she began to collect the horse models and play with them I was just beginning in the Seven Seasons to LYFE pilot program.  I realized there would be benefit to letting her spend lots of time playing with them, and though I didn’t understand the “why” I chose to be okay with that.  Now that the program is in Season 6 the “why” is being revealed to me with each day.  Her interest in the horse models has led to many activities. She has been working on building a miniature barn with her daddy, she has built and continues to build many things with popsicle sticks like a tack room, a shower room, horse jumps, fences.  Just yesterday she completed a round pen and two more stalls.  She also has created many horse blankets, saddles from felt that looks like leather, and reigns from faux leather chord and supplies from her beading interest.  The collection didn’t stop at horses, but led to a smaller collection of dogs, cats, chickens and her most recent purchase a cow and calf.  She has built things for these animals to that include a chicken coop, a cat tree, cat food, dog houses, dog bones, etc.  She spends many hours playing, building and thinking about what to build next.  She has also ventured into movie making with her Schleich and has made slide show video chronicling her horses with their names, she made a stop motion video and recently made a full story that included video and pictures.  She explained to me one day how this is her way of learning, and gave me examples of things she has learned so far such as why saddles are designed the way they are, specifically how the western saddle came about, as she made reigns (looking up the designs) she learned the difference between western and English reigns, she has learned through the models themselves about the breeds she has collected.

It’s amazing to me how different these two bents look.  How one looks so huge with playful activity where the other is more academic and contained looking, yet the knowledge (fruit) is evident with both bents, especially when I sit down and talk with the girls about horses.  I think of how easy it would be to brush the value of these activities aside (particularly the play oriented ones) with a more schoolish mindset.  I am so thankful that I am learning to value my children’s natural bents, learning to nurture them and encourage them.  My children are thankful too.