Living the Dream

As a child, I asked for a horse every single Christmas.  We were dirt poor so that was never going to happen.  Nevertheless, my mother encouraged me to put it on my wish list every year.  She was either very cruel or very brilliant.  I never stopped wishing for that horse and never gave up hope that one day I would own a horse of my own.  Forty-something years later, I now own four horses.  I`m not the world`s best rider, heck I`m not even on the radar, yet I can hold my own and know enough to jump on the back of a horse and head out confidently on my own.  I compare it to riding a bike or even driving a car.  If you can control either one of those, you can ride a horse.

But if my car is acting screwy or my bike has a loose bolt, I`ll jump off and refuse to ride.  I`m too old to take risks and play russian roulette.  I'd rather take the car into the garage and have it tuned up before getting behind the wheel again.  That goes for horses as well.  I adore Aussie but he needs a tune-up.  Actually, I'm pretty certain he is overdue.  But, as I mentioned, not being the world's best rider also means I'm not the best mechanic.  I'm not qualified to tune him up.  Farm Girl tries to find time in her busy schedule to do it, but it will take more than the occasional ride in the saddle.  He needs continual and consistent work.

But meanwhile, I have a very well oiled bike grazing in the pasture that is only too happy to hit the trails with me.  She gives me what I always loved and enjoyed about riding.  She forgives me for not being the world's best rider and for my novice mistakes.  She reads my faulty cues and translates them  correctly.  She builds my confidence while providing an hour of enjoyment.  And all she asks for at the end of a ride is a carrot or two.  And perhaps a rub along with a show of gratitude.

Though I am very happy that my childhood dream came true, it is by no means all a bed of roses. Owning horses isn't exactly what the fairy tale image depicts.  There is frustration, bruised butts, bruised egos, long hours, short sleeps, dirty stalls, pastures to maintain, fences to mend, hooves to trim, thrush to avoid, diseases to battle, thousand pound resisting animals to nurse, manure beneath your boots to scrub (not to mention fingernails), long hours in the heat, long hours in the cold, hauling water, breaking frozen water, chasing down hay suppliers, worrying daily you have enough hay for winter, worrying daily that you are cut out for this lifestyle.

And yet, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

My ride today on Chloe.  Though her shadow looks like an elephant in the picture above, lol.  Am accompanied by Farm Girl and pooches as per usual.  Also, forgive my dorky appearance. It's December.  It's cold.  I live in the country.  Enough said.