Our Stewart family’s horseback Easter egg hunt has become a tradition that we have celebrated for the past seven years, ever since we moved to Bear River City. Easter is one of my favorite holidays and horses are my favorite animal, so it just seemed natural to put them together.
I tell my adult children, “I don’t care if I have to share you on Christmas and Thanksgiving, but I want you for the Saturday before Easter.” And they come, sometimes bringing friends or other family members. Each year it seems our family changes and grows and we plan our Easter egg hunt around those changes.
To make things more fair for the inexperienced and younger riders, Uncle Steven and I hide the eggs according to color. Each rider has a different color or style of egg. For instance, last year we had basketball eggs for Kory, purple eggs for Megan, football eggs for Ryan, chicken shaped eggs for Brynna, pink eggs for Janie, and so forth.
We’ve been collecting eggs for years, and since we ask everyone to leave their eggs and just take the candy home, we have quite a collection. Assigning each rider their own color makes it possible for us to hide the eggs according to the rider’s ability. Uncle Steven especially likes to hide eggs in unusual places- like hanging them from tree branches.
A few of our family members are experienced riders and we love hiding their eggs in difficult locations- over ditches, in trees, through gates and around obstacles such as wood piles and water hazards. For our lower level riders, we have a rule that you have to be touching some part of your horse when you pick up an egg. This makes it possible for riders with less experience to get off their horse to get an egg.
Last year we added “jumbo” sized eggs to the hunt and they sure made things more challenging and interesting .
After the riders find their designated colored eggs, they are allowed to hunt for the prized golden eggs, which hold items like movie tickets, gift certificates and money.
This is the most exciting part of the hunt, as riders become a little more daring and often find themselves racing for the same golden egg as another rider.
Last year we had more little ones, so we did a hunt for them before the adult riding hunt began. We have to work the hunt around the weather, so it usually begins at about 11:00. Following the hunt, we usually play with the horses, give them their annual vaccinations and worm them, eat barbecue and potato salad and play badminton.
This year we add a new son-in-law and grandson to the mix so we’ll need two more colors of eggs and two more chairs at our Easter table. And as our family continues to grow and change, so will our Easter Egg hunt.
As for our horses, they aren’t too fond peanut butter eggs or jelly beans but they do receive their own prizes in the form of carrots, apples and other treats.
Aunt MO
Rules of Chocolate Easter Eggs
If you get melted chocolate all over your hands, you’re eating it too slowly.
If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves.
Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.
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