Hitherto, there were two animal related highlights in the daughter’s life.
1) The Wild animal safari in the UK where she had the privilege of having a fully grown giraffe come and eat out of her tiny hands. As far as memorable experiences go, this is definitely one for the keeps.
2) She saw a Unicorn(!) in the forests of Scotland (Did I mention she wants to be a zoologist now? )
When Linda Chapman wrote the book series, My Secret Unicorn, I don’t think she realized what an ardent fan she would gather in my daughter. The daughter has read the book series at least once a week for the past 63 weeks.
As for the son, the first question he learned to answer to was : “What does a horse do? “
To which he heaps his front lips together, puckers them and clicks his tongue – "Tok Tok". Folks preparing for their college entrance examinations look half as sincere, and practice less often.
The husband is no better at horse riding than at speaking Hindi. There seemed to be no way he could impress his children with bizarre equestrian abilities. So, he did the next best thing and added another animal highlight to her life.
As a birthday present for his little girl, he arranged for us to go to a ranch and have her ride a pony on the trail. The pony was called ‘Spirit’ and I couldn’t think of a better name for my spirited little girl. She drank in the whole experience without a squeak (Believe me when I say being speechless for the daughter is a rare event…)
Her rising instructor kept jabbering us to ask questions, however. Seeing that the Jane Goodall in our midst had clammed up with excitement; we filled the void. We asked about ponies, fillies, colts and random equestrian feats.
“Does your son like horses? He seems excited!” said the instructor just when we seemed to be running out of topics. I told her he loved horses and that he always answers the “What does a horse do?” question correctly. I might have swelled a bit in pride.
I looked at him and said, “What does a horse do? Show Aunty”
To which he summoned up his sincere face once again, puckered his lips together and said. “ROAR” ( I don’t think he is going to be a Zoologist any time soon.)
Recent leonine behavior has shadowed the equine. We went to a museum, where, for the touch of a button, the Dinosaur exhibit roared most obediently. Sigh!
Maybe, he’d ride a dino one day (like this picture I found) Till then, ponies can roar in our world.
Nourish-n-Cherish 
How cute! Pony ride for the dotter and Tucky roaring like a horse! :–)))
I know! It was such a wonderful idea from the husband. They both enjoyed it.
First time I saw K so quiet. 🙂
Next time we need her to keep quiet for a full 30 minutes, we know what to do!
You must get your daughter to read Joan Aiken’s “Serial Garden” – all the magic that happens includes a unicorn.
Gee thanks Anu. I’ll get the book for her. I think she already likes Anu Aunty!
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