Back in the Saddle

I was away from the barn for over a week in Colorado for a theater conference which I absolutely loved! But that also meant I neglected my horse. Time has this nasty habit of getting away from me, the day before I left to go to Colorado I had the opportunity to go and watch my friend Margrith compete in a show with the horse she is leasing (named Sunny). Sunny is a huge horse whom I've nick-named Mammoth.

I must admit I was skeptic that this large horse could leap over a jump, but Margrith had complete faith in her horse. Their performance was splendid, and they took second place jumping over poles at the height of 2 feet and 9 inches.                               It was so good to see Margrith again, we used to see each other at least once a week, before Rosie died and before I went of to College we were inseparable, people at the barn even referred to us as sisters.

Margrith was surprised that I showed up at the show, I had wondered myself if I would get their in time to watch them compete. The Birt's Barn which they compete at is in the middle of nowhere. I saw chickens literally cross the road, donkeys, and mules right next to the front door of several small houses and orchards and field covered in woolly sheep and stocky cows.

  I found the barn and parked and rushed out over the muddy grounds to the arena afraid that I had already missed Margrith and Sunny's show, but there they were waiting at the gate to be called. Margrith dismounted from her towering horse and gave me a hug, that moment made the long drive and the time I spent watching her ride worth it.

 Birt's arena holds bittersweet memories, it is the only place I have ever seen Margrith compete, it is the first and last place I saw Margrith and Rosie ride in a show.

    When I came back from Colorado it took another week for me to find the time to actually go to the barn and see Twilight. I was sure she would be angry with me, hotly toss her head and walk away from me when I went to collect her from the pasture. She had every right to be angry with me. To my surprise she walked right up to me when I went into her pasture. She snuffed my hand in search of treats, and she seemed to say, "hey where have you been? I missed you. . .plus I'm hungry do you have any food?" 

   We had a good ride, she was energetic but obedient, it was nice to be back in the saddle. I let her run laps around the outdoor arena, goaded by Stephanie who playfully said, "Are you going to win the race today!"  I could not help but think of the movie Hildago. "We'll ride all the way to Damascus." I said to Twilight, "and your hooves will only touch the ground 1,000 times between the starting line and the end, because you are breed of greater horses than Secretariat and Man O War, you have Pegasus in your blood!" Of course like the story of Hildago, it isn't true.

  Yesterday when I went out to the barn I had a wonderful time. Stephanie was riding Rowdy, and Heather was riding her horse Flyer. Flyer is a true gray horse, he was born black but as he has aged he has lightened in color. He is 10 years old now and is almost white with some dark patches in his mane and tail and splashed on his legs. 

  I've known Heather since I was in junior high, she used to be the Choir teacher at a junior high called East, (I went to North Junior High). I would see her at choir concerts, she always looked to young to be a teacher to me. She wears her long black hair in a pony tail or braids, and always has a pair of thick rimmed colorful glasses perched on her nose. Her voice is high and clear.

It was awkward when I first came to the barn years ago and saw her playing with her horse, she can ride Flyer without a bridle. I've watched her ride him with a flag on a pole flowing alongside. She is on a drill team, which is when riders and their horses perform choreographed maneuvers in sync. 

Now that I know her better, it is not awkward to see her outside of a school setting, plus I've had almost 4 years to think of her as a horseback rider and friend instead of a teacher.

 Stephanie and I started riding together in the arena, first at a trot then at a canter, Rowdy has really taken to drill team and did all he could to keep up with Twilight as she sped ahead, or cut corners. Stephanie was absolutely tickled by how well Rowdy was responding, and she called out to Heather to come ride with us and try some drill moves. 

Twilight doesn't mind Rowdy, she has been around him enough to tolerate his presence, but she refused to accept Flyer, she shook her head at him and pinned her ears flat against her skull when he got to close, so Twilight and I had to be on the outside or inside of our line so that I could create space between her and Flyer. We started by doing 360's, which is when all the horses turn in a circle at the same time and keep pace with each other. Twilight and I were on the outside and when Heather yelled "Now!" We would start making the circle. First we did it at a walk, then a trot, and then a canter. We made a few good circles, but most of them were sloppy. It didn't matter though, I was having fun, and so was Twilight, she became excited and pulled on the bit a fought me to go faster and faster.

"You race her?" Healther asked, I could only nodd, anytime she was neck and neck with Flyer or Rowdy she would pull ahead, for almost a year now our apponents have been invisible, figments of our minds. But Twilight still remembers racing against Rosie, and old habits die hard.

 She and I did 360's with just Flyer and Twilight for a while, and then with Rowdy again. Twilight on the inside, Flyer in the middle, and Rowdy on the outside. "We look like an oreo!" I crowed.

"You're the creamy filling," Stephanie giggled to Heather.

"Of course I am!" She replied.

 One of our turns was so fast that I screamed, just because I couldn't help myself, it was loud and high pitched like breaking glass. Both women asked why I'd screamed, and I couldn't really give them an answer, I screamed just because I could. Drill was a chance to let the tense knot inside of me out, to play. The sun felt great, and so did the huge smile that I could not keep of my face.This is what riding is all about, we were just being silly girls, enjoying ourselves, but there was meaning behind the frolicing. Drill shows you how strong the connection and understanding must be between a rider and her horse.

   Twilight and I have sloppy horsemanship compared to Heather and Flyer, and Stephanie and Rowdy. We tried pin-wheels which is a 180 and then a change in direction. Healther sang 'The itsy bitsy spider' as we spun in large canter circles and slid into atrotious stops up and down the arena.

  Clearly Twilight and I have some work to do, but now there is a goal, I want to be as good of a rider as Healther and Stephanie. I would love to be intune with Twilight to the point that I could ride Twilight with only a saddle and nothing else like Healther does. I would love to be able to ride Twilight with nothing at all, just my hands in her long mane.