IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF, AGAIN It hit me as I was picking out Rebel’s feet: it was exactly two years to the day that I first started down this horse riding road.
And look at me! I thought.
How far I’ve come from my first lesson. There I was, confidently picking up Rebel’s feet, or encouraging him to meet me halfway, or whatever. Cleaning away, bracing myself for the — yup, there it was — his ritual fart as I began to clean his hind near hoof. He’s hilarious, is Rebel.
There I was, chatting with the Livery Ladies, helping tack the horses, having a laugh with my lesson mates, lurking in the very doorway of the very barn that I’d been too intimidated to enter on my very first day.
I can’t say it was the the most amazing anniversary lesson ever. No, I tell a lie: I was doing things that were so beyond my comprehension two years ago I could not have even told you what they were. My legs were on, I was sitting back, practicing with the turning-without-slumping thing, getting Rebel to bend around my leg as best I could on the twenty metre circles, and cantering like the wind around the indoor arena.
Lift your glasses, friends, to many, many more years of this horsey lark!
And it’s just about the year anniversary of this blog! And it’s my ten year anniversary of living in Dublin. And it’s my birthday at the end of the month!
I’ve always loved September…
MANY BRAVE FOOLS 