Months ago, I said to a friend, “I wish I had more time with my horses!” We both laughed and said we’d better be careful about what thoughts we put into the Universe. “I’m amending that,” I said aloud. “I don’t want to get that time by losing my job, so, how about if I say, I wish I had more time with my horses without a reduction in income. (I will accept reduced hours for more pay, or lottery winnings, in place of my current job.)”
Instead, I lost my boyfriend. So while I now technically do have more time with my horses, it’s been such an emotional time, I haven’t felt “present” enough to be with River. And yet of course every time I do go out there and “just try,” I become more present, in her presence. I just haven’t tried to push it yet with anything athletic. The more time we spend together, the more I love her.
With Rocky I don’t have to be very present at all to get started. He and I can hang out anywhere and absolutely trust that we take care of each other. If I’m sad, he either stays with me without demanding anything, or he nuzzles and nudges and insists until I play point-to-point or stick-to-me or some other liberty game he likes. That usually brings me back to the present and helps me be present.
In other news…
River starts “college” in November, with Erin Murphy. This is the official “colt start” process and I’m going to be a passenger as often as possible. Here is River watching the arrival of the dinner wagon, with Centella and Finnigan:
Salsa and Jan are playing some Level 2 and some Level 1. Jan is working on the ranch now part-time, doing all of the feeding, watering, and cleaning two days per week while the full-time caretaker has her weekend. She is loving it and already learning so much. Here is Salsa having morning tea with Jan:
Rocky looks more comfortable and dare I say it, almost sound, now that he is shod. I found that he played more in his pen when he had all four of his Cavallo boots on, not just the front feet, and talked to our farrier about shoeing. The barefoot transition in 2009 was wonderful because Rocky was still young enough to grow new feet in the correct size for his body — he went up almost 2 boot sizes — and the new feet are much healthier than the ones he had when we moved here. He had been shod too early, lunged incessantly too young, and had his feet trimmed too small for too long. But he still has very tender soles, and the shoes are making a big difference. We’ll keep an eye on him to make sure he can keep them on even when it gets muddy this winter. He has a good hoof supplement, and bell boots, so we’ll see.
Here is Rocky playing hide-and-seek with me:
Horsegirl on a Journey 