Okay my punishment wasn’t that bad. I had to help pick stalls for a month; at least I get to be near the horses. Right now I’m lying in the hayloft listening to the sounds of horses settling down for the night. It’s been about a week since my ‘punishment’ began and I’ve also been forbidden to ride the horses. All the lights had been turned off hours ago and it seems everyone’s asleep. I’ve got to admit, I’ve always been a night owl, and I’m a morning person, weird right?
At night I always got fidgety, like I need to do something. So to calm myself I would go for a midnight ride. Tonight I’m going to ride Armageddon, we’ve bonded a lot over this past week and I would love to feel a horse under me and hear the rythmatic breathing and hoof beats of the horse. I sighed and checked my watch, 1:00am, perfect.
Climbing out of my hay bed I quietly crept down the latter and made my way to the stallions barn. The full moon lit my path as I slipped in to the stables passing all the other stallions to Armageddon. His head was out and he nickered at me. I had been taking him out on walks at night and I didn’t even need a halter anymore.
“Okay we are going to do something different today,” I said slipping a bridle on. He trusted me enough to put that on, it was just a snaffle bit, not harsh at all. I lead him out of his stall, sticking to the grass to muffle his hoof beats, and took him on to the oval track.
I stared in to his eyes, and said “I need you to trust me,” before pushing of the fence and on to his back. He tensed at first as he adjusted to my weight, before relaxing. Pushing him forward I kept him at a walk, he obeyed but I could feel his excitement growing. “Easy boy easy,” I murmured to him, his muscles were tensing again this time from excitement. He wanted to run, I took him three times around the track, one at a walk then at a trot and a slow canter.
I stopped him at the gate, gathering my reigns I leaned forward. I felt his muscles tense again, “Ready?” I whispered, “Set? Go!” as soon as that word the horse beneath me sprang to life, the coils of muscle in him moved and worked together as he sprang in to a full blown gallop. He was releasing what he had kept inside, for me. His hide rippled at his movement, everything flowed in him, and I moved with him.
I stopped him when we got back to the beginning. I patted him, he was breathing hard but he wasn’t sweaty, so I rode him back to the barn. I was climbing back in to the loft just as the first rays of sun hit the land, and I grew sad, I couldn’t share this with my mom or my sister. Even army couldn’t help that kind of sadness. My heart felt broken, not the kind where you can get someone new to replace someone, you can’t replace family.
I realized just then that it will take a while to mend my broken heart. A tear rolled down my cheek at the thought, my emotions were tiring me and I fell asleep to the sound and smell of horses.
Ok I’m not too proud of this chapter but, I consider my animals family and well everything just hit me today, just last winter 3 of my horses had to be putdown or died and one has been through everything with me. I consider horseback riding as my therapy, and I actually admit crying when they all died, and now my dog looks like he went through the holocaust. So I just want to say R.I.P to Hawaii, Pebbles, and Dixie. Also please pray for my dog, Laser.
