Mercy Came A Runnin'

7.

Mercy and I slowly but surely became more and more competitive.

There were still mistakes, pretty often. We weren't very consistent.

After about a year of owning her, we stopped going to ride with Sherri, as my parents wouldn't find the time to take us.

At one point my parents bought a huge horse trailer with living quarters. It was fun to haul to barrels races and camp out in.

We mostly only went to the Magnolia covered arena near my house. It was Mercy's favorite arena to run in, after all. We would always park the trailer and hang out in the air conditioning until it was my time to go run.

That was a good time. I felt satisfied with my life. At the time I had four horses, a very loving boyfriend, and a great outlook on life in general.

Sure, there were many upsets in life. Losing my beloved dogs was an awful thing to go through. But it was okay. I still could go hop on Mercy and go for a good ride.

I felt like we were starting to barely click.

My mom finally started taking me to ride with a lady named Sheila, who helped me learn Mercy about more.

Riding with her did boost my confidence, as she really helped me get in better tune with Mercy.

But eventually, as all good things, riding with her came to an end as my mother didn't want to take me to do so.

Mercy and I kept on doing what we'd been doing. Hitting random jackpots close to home and praying we'd made a check.

My life started getting harder however.

My grandpa, Papa, was diagnosed with a terminal cancer. It was very awful news to hear. Several nights in a row I'd just go sit with Mercy and cry about it.

Mercy knew how I was feeling. She always did. I think she knew before I even knew. She was always so gentle with me. She knew I was upset and she just wanted to help. She'd lay her face in my lap and just let me cry and pet her. She was my rock.