Prayers answered

This past week was an answer to the prayers of many people.

Hattie's birthday was a success.

Hattie and I arrived in Chiang Mai on Tuesday afternoon. We first went to find a hotel to stay at for our time in Chiang Mai, and then we were off for lunch at Subway. I know most of you are probably saying, "Subway?" This is a real treat for us here in a land that thinks rice is the main staple for food. A sandwich shop is not a common thing at all, and a Subway sandwich is just a real treat!!

Later in the afternoon, Hattie and I found ourselves at one of the malls in Chiang Mai. Our purpose.....to buy new tennis shoes and a dressy outfit for Hattie. Hattie was a good shopper, and she located her new tennis shoes pretty quicky. What a bargain, too!! She was so pleased with her purchase, she couldn't wait to wear her new shoes. Then we were off to shop around for a dressy outfit for her. This took a bit more time, but we were able to find a wonderful black skirt that would be flexible with many different shirts. This was ideal for Hattie who would prefer to wear jeans and a t-shirt. She was happy with her new skirt. It looks great, and she was comfortable (as she could be in a skirt). During our time at the mall, we also had a real treat to eat a snack at Auntie Anne's....what's that? You know those wonderful soft pretzels? Yep, that's the shop's name. We both were in need of a pretzel and a coke. What a treat! Our time at the mall came to an end, but we had a bigger event to look forward too.

Earlier in the day, Harry had made some phone calls, and he did find a stable for us to go visit. This stable taught English riding, and it was located within the city. This was exciting for Hattie to hear. Harry scheduled for us to go to the stable in the late afternoon to just visit and talk with the teacher also. We hired a tuk-tuk (small three wheeled taxi that makes the sound "tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk, " and we were off to the stable. My heart just leaped in excitement for Hattie when we pulled into the parking lot. I can only imagine her feelings. She just couldn't wait to get into the barns to see the horses.

"Laddaland Equestrian" this is the stable's name.

My heart just leaped when I saw this scene!

We met with Thang, and she took us straight to the barns. Hattie looked around while I talked with Thang. She explained to me that she would like for Hattie to start on a pony. Hattie was not to excited about this, and I explained to her that we must be faithful with the small things before we can be given the bigger things. God is so faithful to help us grow to meet the experience we desire. We then walked down to the pony barn, and immediately Hattie was in love.

Hattie was just in love in the pony barn, too!

We spent a little time in the horse barn also, and Hattie just kept talking about how she wanted to come study at this stable. She was so excited to ride. So we scheduled her riding time to be 7 am the next morning. We left the stable, and we went back to our hotel. We had dinner at McDonalds that evening, and we also went shopping at the Night Bazaar. The Night Bazaar is a street full of vendors that set of their wares to sell every night of the week. They set-up little carts on the street, and we walk along the sidewalks and look for interesting and fun things. This time we bought a few games made of wood, an outfit for Little Harry, and some fresh orange juice. We even got to meet a baby elephant and feed it sugar cane. It was a fun night of looking at all the different things, but we didn't last very long. We headed back to our hotel to get to bed.

The next morning we were up and going right on time. Our tuk-tuk arrived on time too. We went straight to the stable, and we were ready to go at about 6:50. Hattie got a helmet, and she was ready to ride.

Hattie sizing the stir-ups before starting to ride.

Once Hattie had sized the stir-ups she was on and riding. This day was dedicated to getting her back in the saddle and riding pretty. A lung rope is used to help her concentrate on her position on the horse, and the rope keeps the horse going in a perfect circle.

Hattie's first few moments on Cookie.

I was so pleased to hear Thang getting Hattie to think about how she was sitting and holding the reins. Thang did not allow Hattie to just ride, and this was really the best thing for her. Hattie had been riding Thai ponies at the military base without any instruction, and she is forming many bad habits. Thang was dedicated to getting Hattie back in the English riding mind set, and I was pleased. The above picture shows Hattie's posture and position. Hattie spent one hour on this day working on getting her posture good, and she learned how to control the horse again. She had a little bit of a hard time riding in tennis shoes on this day also. She felt like she couldn't get a good kick with these shoes. When we left there, we were very happy with her riding lesson and her progress.

Later on that day, we talked with Harry, and we asked permission to stay one more day so she could ride again the next morning. He knew the opportunity was a real treat for Hattie so he allowed us to stay one more day. We planned to go back to the stables that evening to watch some advanced classes, and we also scheduled her another riding lesson for Thursday morning at 7 am. That evening we spent time just watching two different classes. One class was taught by Thang, and the students had been riding for quite a few years. The other class was advanced riders who were learning how to side-step with their horse. This class was taught by the owner. It was fun to watch them practice. Hattie spent some time in the barns again just loving on the horses that were there. I had the chance to talk with the owners wife during this time also. We talked alot about Thai ponies and their potential. I left there that day with a renewed encouragement that we might be able to allow Hattie to ride to Thai ponies if they had a little training. These Thai ponies are mostly used for trail riding or like a pack mule. They are never really trained in the specifics of different kinds of walking and running or jumping. It would require some training for the horse before Hattie could ride one in this way. She also told me that she had bought two Thai ponies, and she uses them for school horse. I was delighted to hear the Hattie was going to ride one the next morning. This horse was called "Giant." Too funny!

Watch the video above to see Hattie in action on Giant. I was so proud to see her sitting so nicely on this horse, and she learned so many things on this day about what she needed to work on in the future. We left the stable that day with many lessons...

1. Praise God always.

2. He provides.

3. He teaches us to be faithful with the small things.

4. He teaches us how He is working.

5. He wants us to continue to rely on Him for all our needs.

Thank you so much for praying for Hattie on her birthday. It was a big success, and she is so excited about the possibilities. What an awesome lesson for us all.

Rely on Him