Freedom on the Back of a Horse

This evening I was writing in my journal and put to paper some thoughts about my love of trail riding and working with my horses. Thought I’d share them.

I used to tell myself that when I rode my horses I could think more clearly and that a good ride was what I needed to help me consider and have deep thoughts about any particular trouble or concern that was upon my mind at the time.

I was deceiving myself. It was just another excuse to go for a nice ride.

Riding my horses is my escape. It is freedom. No, it is more than that.

When I ride my horse, all of life’s worries, concerns, trials, and tribulations just seem to fade off into the background. When I am on the back of my horse, there are no worries. There is no trouble. Things seem to be right in the world.

When I am riding the trails on my horse I am not old; there is no age. There are no struggles. No aches and pains. I have no appointments. I am not late for anything. I have not missed any calls. Nobody needs to get in touch with me. I am not in a hurry for anything. My greatest concern revolves around whether to take the right fork or the left fork of the trail…if in fact the trail should have a fork…not that it matters. There are no decisions to be made that have any greater import than those necessary to continue the ride.

There is only myself and my horse and the relationship between us.

I think that’s what I enjoy the most – the relationship between myself and my horse. I like the partnership between the horse and me that riding requires. I enjoy the challenge, for both my horse and myself, that a particularly difficult section of trail may present and the feeling of having successfully negotiated it. I find myself bragging to others about my horse’s sure feet and solid mind and the trails we have been over. It gives me a sense of pride, approaching what I feel when my children are successful in their endeavors.

I love the feelings I get when my horses first begin to understand and willingly submit to new training elements I introduce. I even enjoy the occasional disagreements we have about how something should or should not be done.

Although I am not always as patient as I should be, neither are my horses. They forgive me and I them and we continue forward, one hoof in front of the other. One breath at a time. Passing from one scene into another. One valley to the next. Sometimes just to see what’s on the other side of the next hill or around the next bend in the trail.

It has taken me a long time to find the two horses I now have, Lizzy and J Golden. I have never been much of a horse trader, but I have bought and sold a few while looking for a pair with the qualities I have sought. Highest on my list of qualifications? They must enjoy the trail as much as I. I think Lizzy and J do.