An Incomplete List Of Things For Which I Am Thankful This Year
Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow equestrians! As I write this it's the day before Thanksgiving and by this time tomorrow I hope to be sitting fireside sipping a cranberry margarita as my boy rests cozily in his stall. While I reflect on everything that's happened in the past year I do so with a positive outlook and a sense of humor.
Here's an incomplete list of things for which I am thankful this year...
1. That at 28 I was able to afford riding again after taking ten years off to pursue higher education and then later a higher income. The return to riding also coincided with moving back in with my parents. This is no coincidence. Such is the burden of being a rider and a millennial.
2. Cowboy Magic Greenspot Remover and Quic Silver Shampoo. I'm on my second gray horse. Enough said.
3. That there are only SEVEN DAYS left of No Stirrup November. I look forward to walking without a waddle again. Here's to hoping all of that pain made a difference.
4. That I have Friday off of work so that I don't have to peruse the Dover and Smartpak Black Friday Sales covertly from my desk.
5. Christmas comes just a month before the start of show season. It's as if Santa knows how desperately I need a new show coat.
6. That I have the opportunity to lease a very patient Grand Prix schoolmaster who when I consistently give the wrong aids does not send me flying into the dirt, but simply dumbs himself down to my level. If I insist on trying to perform a flying change without a foreboding half-halt, then he will pretend that he has never heard of this so-called "flying change".
7. That said aging horse has not realized that if he were to limp around the arena for a few weeks we would retire him to the life of a fat and happy lawn ornament. Instead, he packs me around for my own education and only gets treats and endless attention in return for his efforts.
8. That as a chronic leasee, I have been lucky enough to find one amazing horse after the other, without any horseless gaps in between. It's a fickle position to be in, but I've been fortunate enough gain experience on a number of horses at different levels, with different personalities, different evasions, and different methods for outsmarting me. Each horse provides their own education and I am thankful to be a pupil of many.
