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We Are Flying Solo

September 1, 2009

I'm Looking For My Missing Piece

PhotobucketClearly, I was a genius.

I had just put together a rig for less than $12,000 TOTAL. It was safe, sturdy, reliable and even PRETTY! I had a newfound foolproof method for communicating with my horse and now had him self-loading onto the trailer with a tap of my finger. He was going well barefoot as we practiced enormous jumps*.

He developed better condition every day and I was sure nothing would stop our meteoric rise to stardom. Even my helmet acquired its own cocky tilt of confidence, see?

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The only eensy weesy teeny tiny miniscule problem was we could no longer canter. It was gone; we had lost it, misplaced it somewhere along the way. We could pick up the canter, just fine, but within five strides or so, it disintegrated into a front-heavy, hauling, freight train of a speed demon mad rush. Not so much fun really and I feared my shoulders might actually separate from their sockets sometime in the very near future.

And it scared me a little -- as a child, I'd been thrown from a runaway horse and knocked out for a bit (even though I WAS wearing a helmet, if I hadn't, I'd be dead!) and as a result, any hint of loss of control still got me a bit short of breath and twitchy.

Discouragement began to lurk in the corners of the arena, whispering in its nasty lilting voice, "Look at you, Ms. Fancy Awesome Rider, can't even canter your own horse can you? 25 years of riding and you are afraid to canter around the arena? Nice work, genius."

Ok, maybe I wasn't a genius. I had somehow lost an entire GAIT. Who does that?

Clearly, I was an idiot.

*I promise very soon the pictures get better as a new camera made an appearance!

8 comments:

  1. I love Solo's expression over jumps, even the tiny ones - you can tell he just loves it.

    I've enjoyed reading your story thus far and look forward to more updates!

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  2. Thanks! Yes, Solo was clearly born to run and jump, he finds the dressage akin to slow horrible torture, LOL.

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  3. I hope this is not a spoiler: The size of the jump directly correlates to the size of the grin on eventer79's face.

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  4. *laughing* This may actually be true, but I must rely on witnesses for that!

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  5. Hey, helmet-nazi...while the jaunty angle of your helmet may be considered coquettish in some circles, it is certainly not the proper example for a helmet-nazi to be setting!
    ~The Safety Police~

    (*sorry, couldn't resist*)

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  6. Well, I for one am anxiously awaiting when you tell us how to find that darn canter. I have had my TB for over THREE years, and have cantered him TWICE. Both outside in a huge field, which for some bizarre reason was way less intimidating to me. Since our trot work has never progressed to being solid (as a result of getting him as a green, doesn't even steer, no brakes etc 6 yr old & being a full-time student the entire time I've owned him, so no consistent riding), I've never attempted cantering him in the arena. And now I'm a loser who hasn't cantered her own horse. Heh. So tell me how to find it!! :o)

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  7. The reason seems very clear to me. No mohawk = no canter. I'm sure as soon as the mane was shaved, the canter came into being!

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  8. I tell you what, Frizz, I swear my head is lopsided, that helmet never sits right! I don't wear it anymore so I can say that it failed to live up to my nazi standards.

    Oh, Jen, you are not going to like my answer of how we got it back because it was something akin to divine intervention (but I can't spoil the story!). However, I will divulge that it took some serious getting tough and making it happen.

    Molly, ROFL, lord almighty if it had taken that long, I don't know what I would have done!

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