Short and Sweet

My girl and I had big plans to saddle up the two horses and go for a good hour long ride. However, we spent over an hour picking glass out of the corral after a window was mysteriously broken. I think I'm done with glass now. It'll be all plexiglass from now on.

We had about fifteen minutes to ride. No time for tack. Hop on.

My old half-arab has a reputation for being slightly ornery. He's arrogant, bossy, stubborn, intelligent and high strung. He's also sensitive, light mouthed, attentive, and magnificent, and I love him with a strength that defies logic and common sense. When I put a child on his back, he is the best old horse in the world.

Watching my daughter trot that horse around the corral bareback is such a buzz. This is the horse that bucked me off so bad when he was five and I was nineteen that I could barely walk for a week. This is the horse that won us a reserve championship in speed events at our saddle club a few years back. This horse is famous for trotting sideways to get away from evil mailboxes. And here he is, nose tucked, nicely collected, trotting along, carrying my precious child.

I know what you're thinking. If my kid's so precious how can I put her on this crazy beast? I know him. I know every side of him. And I know that if I took him out in the pasture field, he'd have his head up and his nostrils flared, ready to flag his tail out behind him and run like hell. I know that if I rode him down the gravel road, he'd be coiled up like a spring, ready to fight-or-flight at the smallest aberration in the landscape. He knows the difference between me and her.

Our mare needs hours and hours of riding. She's still fretting about the bit in her mouth, and as much as all this bareback riding is good for her, she needs to have a cinch around her chest and get used to it and stop fussing. She's a truly great horse, even with her lack of experience. In fact, her progress despite her patchy training is proof of her greatness. I've only worked with one other horse in thirty years with such a sweet disposition and sharp mind.

But she needs to be broken into a good sweat and taken on a few hours worth of trails. She's not working hard enough!

I had a few blissful minutes riding with my daughter. I always wanted that. I knew there was a chance that my kids wouldn't be into horses but I really lucked out.

It's not perfect: we had to leave, quick pack up , and jump in the car to go home. But I got my ride even if it was short. It was better than nothing.

As for the other love of my life, my husband, we reach our FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY in less than a week. I'll be writing a lot this week about our past, and our future, and all that's good and bad about being in love.