Why Should I Ride?

TB always ready! (Get it?!)

I felt a restless hassle, mixed with now-familiar fatigue, as I slipped the saddle billets into girth buckles.

Why am I doing all this?  I seem to have lost my goals for the time being…

Rational brain shook a finger at impulsive brain, saying, "Just get on the horse, you’ll see why."

I sighed & buckled my helmet strap as I led Encore into the top field.

With a quiet, ready eye, he took his place by my mounting cinder block/dressage letter & I swung up to his back with a fistful of mane.

As I slid my foot into the opposite stirrup & gave Encore his cue of Good Boy! to move forward into the crisp dusk of autumn, I looked towards my pond over my left shoulder.

That’s why.

Last autumn's pond delights

Oranges & reds of the setting sun were reflected in the concentric circles rippling out from a spot where a fish popped up to nab an insect, breaking the mirror surface of the water.

After the windy damp of the hurricane & the too-many rainy days before it, the clean breaths of a sun-cleansed evening were a glorious gift.

Everything in my body clicked into its respective place, my muscles wrapping around & channeling the energy of my horse, both us reveling in the sheer act of motion.

He responded in kind, stretching over his back, reaching up through the bridle for the connection, soft & ready to use his restless body.

Yes, most definitely yes.  That’s why.

C'mon, mom, there's a whole world out there for us!

Categories: schooling, seasons