I would describe Scott as "cautious." Even when he learned to crawl and to walk, he was careful not to fall down or get hurt. We still see it when he plays soccer -- he hardly falls down because he keeps himself safely out of the middle of the pack. In addition to being cautious, he is scared of dogs and suspicious of most other animals.
Given this history, I wasn't too surprised when he declined the offer to ride a horse at the lodge. I was surprised, however, when he suddenly said that he would try riding the horse as long as his dad (yes, that's me) held the rope and lead the horse. I was shocked, actually. Once he had watched the first group of kids ride the horses without injury, he must have decided it wasn't so terrible.
After a few minutes of riding he became comfortable enough let go of the pommel to ride with no hands (his fingers were probably 2 inches from the pommel -- pretty daring). He also called out to anyone who would listen, announcing that his horse's name was Belle.
ZIPLINE
The horseback riding was taking place right next to the climbing tower, which had a zipline running from the top. We didn't even bother asking Scott if he wanted to go up. He watched people going on it for a while and then when he saw a few of his 2nd cousins going on it (who were all a few years older), he again came and told us that he wanted to try. Shock.
I helped him get suited up and insisted that he climb up the ladder rather than the rock wall, since I didn't want him to get stuck on the wall and lose his nerve. I shouldn't have been concerned. He ripped right up the ladder (including the wide gap between the lower and upper sections), gave us the thumbs-up and took off without any hesitation.
He told R afterwards that the guy that clipped him in at the top told him that he could jump off or just lift his feet up. Scott said that he was too scared to jump. He didn't look too scared to me. In fact, he asked to do it 2 more times, and we let him climb the wall too.
The third time he opted for the ladder. I asked him why he liked it better. He said it was because it got him to the top faster. This boy is a daredevil now, and he's all business.
Hayden and Alli also climbed the wall, although Luke had to go rescue Alli from the top because she looked down and got too freaked out to do the zipline.
I was apparently "too fat" to try the zipline. I believe I crossed the weight limit sometime between high school and university, so I guess I never had any hope. It's good that Scott is getting this stuff in while he's 40 pounds -- he may have never gotten another shot at it if he had waited to grow up a bit.
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