Gratitude

I've been thinking a lot recently about so many of the wonderful things in my life.  While I of course have challenges, I choose to focus on the incredibly good things.  I received some perspective this evening.  I have a friend who has a horse that is sick with an undiagnosed problem, he is very special and would be exceedingly difficult to replace as a performance horse, and impossible to replace as a friend.  Because of her situation I've been reflecting on my Cecil, and I still get tearful when I remember he's gone.  Cecil was the horse that got me out of the wheelchair after the brain injury, and I still ache inside when I consider the potential he had as an eventing horse.  I was never able to really see how far we could go together, partly because  of my limitations with recovering from the brain injury, partly because he passed away just as we were starting his first real eventing season.

There are several things that bring me comfort when I get too frustrated, and one of them is Highboy.  In an attempt to bring a ray of light to an otherwise difficult situation, another friend brought to my attention that I wouldn't have Highboy had Cecil not passed.  At the time this comment was made I would have kept Cecil in a heartbeat rather than have Highboy.   However, now that I've had time to grieve and process, it has become obvious to me that Highboy is a real blessing in my life.  He has been a stellar example of how quickly and steadily a horse in rehabilitation can improve.  He has given me a view towards the future, I now have goals and aspirations and excitement about what we will accomplish together.  All of his progress has been in the right direction.  While at times it has felt slow, compared to other rehab horses I've worked with he has progressed amazingly quickly.

I rode him again this afternoon, and while lunging prior to mounting I asked for a canter and he got a little excited, and tugged the lunge line out of my hands.  He then proceeded to gallop around the arena trailing the line along, occasionally kicking out and running away from it as it chased him.  (It was only Highboy, me, and the dogs in the arena so no worries about ruining anyone else's ride!)  Once he had finished being silly, I asked him to whoa, and he halted and walked towards me, keeping one eye on that suspicious rope.  As I gathered the excess line I talked to him and he stepped closer to me, putting his forehead in my hand for a comforting pat.  I sent him out on the lunge line circle again, to make sure he was confident with what we were doing, and bless his heart he just walked and trotted like a perfect gentleman, occasionally stopping and facing me to ask if we were ready to ride yet?

After all this excitement, Highboy was quiet and thinking again.  I love that about this horse.  No matter how scary something is, I can still get him to refocus and settle and get back to work.  I've had other horses who, after a scary incident like that, would be mentally done for the day and I'd have to finish with just quiet lunging.  But Highboy collected himself mentally, and said he wanted to ride after all.  We went to the mounting block and I climbed on, with Miles my border collie coaching from the ground.  Highboy and I worked on circles and leg aids again, walking and trotting around the arena.  He only jumped around a little bit when Miles got too close in his demonstrating of correct trotting.  (Miles helps me with the green horses by doing whatever I cue the horse to do, but on the ground in front of them.  That way they have something to watch and when they do what Miles does, "ding ding - right answer!")  Highboy also began walking and trotting over ground poles while I rode him today. 

To finish up we did some breathing halts, where I stop the horse using a weight shift and a deep exhale.  Highboy is wonderful with this since he learned it from the ground.  It has been standard practice whenever I handle him and want him to stop moving.  I take a deep breath and I halt, and he mimics me.  The only new part is feeling me shift my weight from his back since he already understands the concept.  All the time and training I've done with him on the ground is all transferring beautifully into his under saddle work.  I can't get over how this ride, the second day in a row, he was still strong and graceful while riding, with no soreness when we finished, despite the yee hawing on the lunge line in the beginning.  If he can come this far in the short time I've owned him, we will have amazing things happening here shortly.  Highboy is definitely one of the blessings in my life for which I feel strong gratitude.