Following Horse Dreams

The intensity of this experience gave the feeling that we had been here for a month. On our final day we performed the entire massage routine. I couldn't believe that we had taken in so much information, with such fabulous instruction and here we were locating 80 muscle points on our equine friend.

Taking this course had changed the way I look at horses and myself. After college I had thought about continuing to grad school, yet I couldn't choose anything that really called to me. I remember the day I knew I must work with horses. I was in college, sitting at the local happy hour in the small town of Olympia, Washington. I was with a few random students, a couple of friends, and my boyfriend, my true love. I thought he was the one, I would ruin my credit for him, I would ignore my friends and drive across the country for him. That night as we all sat telling stories over our cheap drinks, he began his routine of jealousy. Whispering mean nothings at me, like I had brought on this harmless attention to spite him. Ignoring it as I had accustomed myself to, Natalie the Spanish girl began a poetic sermon on horses. I was transfixed as she spoke with such fervor about the desire to be on horseback, riding fast, in any terrain, just as long as it was on horseback. My only experience with horses had been the summers I spent in central Washington. My cousins involved with 4-H lived among all sorts of animals. We would always prefer to go horseback anywhere. I would usually get the older fat horse, like Dapple Dan. We would ride in the open fields, I fell off a few times, rode bareback and laughed for hours as we rode around daydreaming. Yet the horse crazy bug hadn't gotten to me, not then. I was too consumed with boys.

One of my favorite pictures of myself is me at the age of 4 or 5, sitting on a pony bareback up at the Lilies place on Dyer Hill. I look so relaxed and happy, so natural to be there. I am glad I came to my senses. To focus my attention on these brilliant creatures, and to lessen my grip on the idea of the perfect relationship. This newly discovered communication between human and horse was so much more engaging and meaningful to me. I would jump in blindly to follow this dream. Stumbling through lessons, and various disciplines. Saving what money I could for another lesson, for car repairs to take me out to the barn, and maxing out my library account with horse books.

Now 5 years later I am standing near the Shenandoah Valley surrounded by beauty, by horses.