Wednesday, February 21, 2007

My Friend Flicka...er...Emily

So the weather finally broke(!!!) to an amazing 40 degrees (give or take a few, who cares) since Sunday. What is a girl to do??? I mean, a girl who is nervous about how her new and yet-to-be figured-out horse will act after the cold weather layoff yet is wanting with hopeful desperation (is there such a thing?) to get to know her wacky new horse and, well, you know...RIDE!!??? Ya, this girl. The one who hates that she is afraid but yet is a bit afraid. That would be me.

I headed to the most knowledgeable and available person I know: BarnFriendEmily. Emily was as excited to ride as I. Thus, I asked Emily to *help* me. *Help* to a 14-yr old horse-crazy girl means she totally showed me what to do by lunging all of the bucks and piss and vinegar out of old George and by then taking him for a test ride so we knew he "was gonna be ok". *Help* means she, with her 14 yr old confidence, gave ME the confidence to hop on and ride and do absolutely fine. *Help* means she will never know how much she helped me.

Emily and I rode our horses last evening. The weather was warm (for here, that is!). We talked and trotted and did a few transitions just to let our guys know we are in for some work...but not so much work that we are frustrated or scared or fruit-loopy.

And the *guys* seemed to enjoy getting back to business. They behaved like perfect gentlemen, much to our delight.

Finally, I enjoyed my George. We had fun and relaxed. Isn't that what this is all about?

3 comments:

Rising Rainbow said...

Oh, I"m jealous you got to ride. I haven't ridden in two months and I'm getting really cranky about it. But also dreading getting on the first time. I'll be fine once I'm up there, but it's the getting these old muscles of mine to push me up into the saddle that is the hard part. I'm hoping there will be a break in the rain long enough to sneak a ride or two in tomorrow. Sounds to me like you have the perfect barn friend. It's great that you have her.

walktrotcanter said...

You know, I was absolutely fine once I was up and on and going! I just needed to see (from Emily) how to get there and not be worried about how George would act! She is fabulous. And yes, it was fabulous to ride again...I am in a much better mood. Hopefully, spring will be there soon for all of us. *sigh*

Donna said...

Hello! I just discovered your blog and wanted to introduce myself. I'm also 42, started taking English lessons last June and have owned my first horse for about a month now. I've put you in my Bloglines so I can keep up with your adventures with George.