A +10 Day

Every once in awhile a day comes along that can only be described as a +10 Day.  Special days like these are rare, which is what makes them so special.  If we had them all the time they wouldn't mean as much to us.  So when they come along they bring a level of incredible joy and achievement to those that experience them.

Today I was honored to have one of those days.  I wanted to document it, because sure as shootin' tomorrow might bring me a -9 Day.  I want to hold today close, keep it in my heart, body and mind.  I don't want this day to end because with it ends my +10 Day.

Of course what made it special relates to horses but not specifically to horses and my day didn't start right off as a +10.  It grew and grew as the day progressed.

Today started out with some rare sunshine - something we haven't seen much of up here on the upper west side of the Cascade Mountains since March.  It occupied my mind, looking at all the green fields and healthy plants.  It occupied me so much that I found myself running late for my weekly Tuesday lesson on Champ, which I referred to as my "Champ Day", yesterday being a "Poco Day".  With my head in the clouds at home, I found myself driving to the barn at 1:25 PM for a 1:30 lesson. 

Not cool to be late.  I called Rachel, my trainer, to let her know I was running behind and her response was to take my time, I was her last lesson of the day and all she had left for the day was to ride some horses.

Got to the barn, hastily greeting my fellow barn pals, who inquired if I was going to the barn dinner in town tonight.  Of course I'd be there!

As I pulled Champ's tack out I noticed that it hadn't been touched since I'd straightened it out last Thursday.  Oh Oh.  That told me that the gal who half-leases Champ hadn't taken advantage of her weekend time to ride.  This told me Champ had been sitting in his stall since last Wednesday while I was preoccupied with riding and purchasing Poco and being out of town over the weekend.  Sure I'd stopped by and visited Champ but since it was my half-lease person's days to ride, I'd expected she'd use them.

I steadied myself to pull a very spirited, excited, pent up horse out of his stall.  But when I went to get Champ I found something else I had always hoped for but never yet encountered.  I found a horse mentally in synch with me from the moment I opened his door.  It was like we were having a conversation and both of us understood each other.

I put Champ through his ground work paces and again I had this feeling that we were talking while we went through them.  On to the arena to meet Rachel and start the lesson.  Walking into the arena, putting on the bridle, and climbing on as if again, we were having a conversation.  I found the loss of my 15+ pounds from being sick a joy as I swung up on the saddle without nicking his rear with my right leg.  I swung my leg smoothly over and gently settled on his back.

Our lesson/ride?  Poetic, incredible, spiritual.  I would ask and Champ already knew what I wanted, his response immediate and perfect.  Oh the joy of connecting with your horse.  It's been many years and horses back since I rode my wonderful Barnie and had this experience.  Once you obtain it, you seek it again and again and count your lucky stars if you find a horse that returns it on a regular basis.

This connection with my horse is the bottom line of why I ride.  To be able to communicate on the back of a 1500 pound animal and for them to communicate back.  What a wonderful gift.  And to be doing this with Champ, known as Dennis the Menace, a bully, the give an inch/take a mile guy.  Definitely special. 

While I rode, I spotted our daughter, home for the summer from college; up at the barn for the day looking after Rachel's daughter (we don't dare refer to it as "babysitting").  It was fun to see her coming and going with children following her wherever she went.

With my successful ride finished, Champ and I were both drenched with sweat.  I hosed him off and then took him out for a long walk in the field to eat grass.  Again, we talked silently as we walked along and observed things around us.

As we returned, Champ walked next to me as a friend would in conversation, the lead line limp between us.  I'd stop, he'd stop.  I'd turn, he'd turn, both of us with peaceful looks on our faces, in our bodies, hearts and minds.  I wished time would stop.

I'd spent so much time with Champ I just had time to head up to town to the restaurant, meeting up with our daughter and everybody from the barn.  I didn't have time to change or get cleaned up.  I ran my hands through my helmet hair, soaking wet earlier from my wonderful ride but it didn't make much difference. 

Nobody seemed to care that I'd just come from the barn and we all had a great time.  When I explained the day I'd had with Champ, many got a faraway look in their eyes, being there themselves and knowing exactly what I'd experienced.

I was so impressed with our daughter.  She held her own in a sea of new people, intelligent in her conversation, elegant in her actions.  She was asked many times if she rode.  I remained silent, always hoping she'll come back to it someday but determined to not push her on the subject.  It must be her decision to return to riding.

Our daughter and I returned to the barn to pick up her car and check on Poco.  Tomorrow is Poco Day.  She told me she'd accompany me to see Poco.  As we walked she mentioned how much she enjoyed meeting the people at the barn.  She said she might like to take a lesson on Poco Thursday. 

I tried to not get too carried away in the conversation but offered to give Rachel a call and see if she had any openings on Thursday for a lesson.  The call has been placed and Rachel will get back to us tomorrow. 

Maybe our daughter will ride, maybe she'll change her mind.  It's up to her to decide.  But tonight it felt good to have her come with me to see Poco and bring the subject up.  It raised the bar on an already +10 Day.