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| Not a pony but a puppy Still a baby... |
So despite wanting to be a (and spending way too much time fantasizing about) being a millionaire, sadly I am not, nor was I ever a child of wealth and privilege. I was, in fact, a poor barn rat. Yup, dats where I learnt all my skilz as a horse girl... scurrying around barns doing hard labor... uh, chores... for a few minutes on the back of a fat pony. And, it was all worth it!
The cool thing about the move to the big city barn is the lesson program. Ok, you say... isn't the place crowded? Aren't there kids all over the place? Isn't awkward to be moving around the newbies, the timid and/or the clueless?
Nahhhhh, I find their energy amazing. There is nothing like a group of young girls, together, in a jumping lesson. It is an atmosphere filled with daring, a business-like intensity with dashes of giggles and an eagerness to go again and again. They don't overthink the quality of their canter, or the accuracy of the bending line and if the pony pops over a jump, they move on to the next, barely noticing the stride in between. It is a pureness of thought that leads to an action free of a past that has yet to come.
And tonight it was four boys, barely 8 years old and a sister... This was their beginning on the backs of five fat ponies. I saw faces gleeming with eagerness to do more and furrowed brows that belied the seriousness of this new adventure. It was ... um.... beautiful. I wonder which will of the five will stay and which will move on to hockey, football or some other (cheaper) sport. But for that moment, maybe I was watching the start of some superstar.
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| Master Rider - I'l take it! |
I did not start my riding career on a lesson horse in a big fancy indoor... No, I did not. Watching these kids make me smile... what a great way to enter a world second to none. And, I am sure that some of those kids will grow up as a barn rat just like me... Maybe it's the little sister who marched up to me and very politely asked to feed Sugar a carrot and then offered her one ever so carefully...
Oh, I would not give up the advantages of a Master rider (awesome competitor parties rule) yet I long for just a little bit of that innocence and a mind that just does... it would be a whole lotta fun!
5 comments:
I'm always amazed watching kids learning to ride. I can almost, just barely remember not being afraid of anything when I first started riding. I do miss that feeling even though I'm happy to have the wisdom that comes with the knowledge of my own limitations.
Well said Amanda, well said...
Yesssss. I've seen enough barns where the kids are out of control that I can kind of in the abstract understand why someone might prefer an adults-only barn...but when the environment is such that there is just no drama, it adds so, so much to have a range of people. Keeps me from getting tooooo Serious Business. (Most of the time!)
I like watching new kids riding for the first time as well. I sometimes wish I still had their carefree way of riding but I am to competitive ridden.
Like the saying goes...the more you know, the more you know how much you don't know ;) Oh to go back to thinking I know it all!
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