It’s been a while since I did a Boys in Motion post…not because they weren’t, but because my pictures are always blurry! But with the weather getting nicer and nicer, there’s been plenty of outside go, go, go time around here. And when I’m too busy to take them riding on their real horse…

Yeah, he's being followed by a kitten.

…then they fill in the gap with their stick horses.

Yep, still being followed by that rather over-adventurous kitten.

We bought these on a last-minute whim while Christmas shopping at Toys R Us. They were normally $15 each, but when we got to the register they were only $11–yeah!

Ok, now he's chasing the kitten.

Speedracer’s horse is a little smaller and lighter than the other two. He needs all the advantage he can muster to keep up!

It took the kitten a while to realize that boys on stick horses don't stop on a dime. We don't call him Speedracer for nothing.

Even if they had been full price, these would have been the best investment ever! They love them. L-O-V-E them. They gallop around the house or (when I can’t take it any more and kick them out!) up and down the back porch when it’s raining out. They gallop around the yard when it’s nice out side. They even take pit stops by tying them to the field gate as a hitching post!

The Ladybug was horrified and after the poor thing got run over 5 or 6 times she took pity on him...

I’m now convinced that stick horses are right up there with architectural building blocks (which I thought were the most brilliant investment we’ve ever made as parents!) as the essential classic toy for open-ended, imaginative play.

And now that we’ve got more than a few John Wayne movies in our repertoire, I’ve usually got my very own Wil Andersen, John Chisum, and Jacob McCandles righting all the wrongs of the barnyard out there.

...And let him ride with her. Can you believe, he sat there and went right to sleep!

At least they always want to be the good guys!