A Story of Addiction, Dysfunction, Codependency… and Horses
We didn't jump on Tuesday, and we didn't jump on Saturday, and I woke up on Sunday wondering, Do I remember how to jump? I ride often, but I haven't been riding for very long, and so stuff like that gets into my head. In the beginning, even up until my second year, time taken …
Continue reading "No Pictures, No Ribbons, No Nothing — But a Really Good Round"
So, I can't post video here, but I have it up on FB, and — and I put it on my phone, too... I've got a list: > Toes in > Contact! > Sit back > Elbows in, too > Look up! I'm sure there's more, but I swear, if I look at that thing …
I woke up and thought, Wouldn't it be nice to just lie here and daydream about going double clear over the 80s on Connell? This is the thing that makes people not do what they say they're going to do: it is nice to just lounge around and make up the story, the perfect story, …
*Because horse people hang their rosettes from their rear-view mirrors. MY SECOND ROSETTE We found out on Saturday that there was going to be more showjumping starting on Sunday. Not a league, we didn't think, it was only for a month, but ah, sure, why not go along and have another go? I thought, I'll …
... I was also on Delilah, and I know I was conscious of this experience going up last Sunday — only the second time I've showjumped a whole entire course in front of people! But here's why I was so worried about remembering where fence no. 5 was. Four years later... sure, it doesn't seem …
MY FIRST ROSETTE! So. The showjumping league has been going on for ages, and yesterday was the last one until summer. I talked myself out of it the first week, and after that, there wasn't even a voice in my head to ignore. I was doing okay on Connell, but every fence felt like a …
I forgot to be nervous on my first day back in the saddle. Okay, granted, I was still literally 'high' from jet lag {and perhaps figuratively, too: I do believe that I leave part of myself up there, negotiating time zones, until I re-enter my body}. I had a new plan coming back from the …
[MOJO IS A GOOD NAME FOR A HORSE] It's been a year and half since I joined the Saturday lesson, since The Injury, since despite It, I tried to jump in my first Saturday lesson, fell on my head, and have been struggling week by week, Saturday by Saturday, to like it again. Not the …
I don't even know where to start, because I want to start with the punchline. Hmmm, let's see. Weather: squally. It waited to bucket down until we pulled into the car park at the yard. It was cold, which just makes me want to go to the loo every five minutes. I had hoped to …
We've occasionally had video cameras in lessons, with mixed results. I've got some footage of me and Reb doing some jumping, from a few years ago. The fences are so small as to be almost non-existent, and we were both clearly bored. There is also some of Delilah and I slogging around the lower arena, …
MANY BRAVE FOOLS 