Last night was my night at my *other job*, the one where I meet my tall dark handsome foreign guy with those lovely big brown eyes. I get to stroke him, whisper in his ear, and once we get moving, I get out my whip. Ya just can't beat working with horses. I got to the barn, lunged OZ, and decided to ride Immy, the schoolhorse with no pulse that I have been forced to ride and conquer in order to learn the fine art of cantering. One of the boarders at the barn had her little daughter with her...the girl was about 6 or 7. Another girl, who is about my riding level, and I were going to ride in the indoor (Olympic) arena and the girl's mother said, "Little Denise wants to ride the pony and try a little jumping. Do you two mind just keeping an eye on her while I am outside?" We kind of looked each other like, "ummmmmm...you want US to watch your kid? We can't even ride much less save a child on a runaway pony!"
Once the three of us were on our horses and in the arena, this little girl trotted off on her pony and started casually cantering around...then she went LEAPING over the jumps with absolutely no effort at all. She was fantastic! It was more like she should have been watching us. I hated her. After a while, she asked me how come I was only trotting. I wasn't about to tell her that at age 40 I am terrified to go that fast on a horse so it takes me a long time to get up my nerve and wait til she gets to be my age and just try to learn riding then instead of as a tiny child with no fear and see just how easy it is. Nope, instead something happened. Something really monumentously big. I started to canter! Well, actually Immy started to canter. I was so peeved at that little girl that I gave Immy a squeeze and sat back and suddenly we were wonderfully, gloriously cantering! El Instructor was above in the viewing area with some other people and when he glanced down to see my wonderful world of cantering, he and the others started applauding. I even waved, mid-canter! In a matter of minutes, I loved that little girl with all of my heart and soul and riding apparal. It was like a drug...I was flying all night. Now I just need to hire that kid for my lessons!
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4 comments:
Is cantering where they're kind of running, but not really hard?? I've even done that before!! But, good for you!! Progress, progress!
Yep...it isn't really that fast unless you are ON the horse AND 40 years old AND a complete chicken. When did you do this? I think I'll have to hate you too if you were 6 or 7 years old.
Congrats! Nothing like a little know-it-all to get your butt in gear. I often get the same type of good kick in the pants when I see a 90 pound woman who just given birth. It just makes me want to work harder.
I used to go horseback riding at a camp ground when I was about 10 - then a couple times in high school. It was fun!
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