What I thought was messing up, is really getting better.

I had a riding lesson today, and I have not had once since the beginning of October. Therefore I was ready for it to be a little tough, and I had set in my mind that Dancer was not in the best of shape. My coach is not one to give out complements very often, so when you get one, whatever it was about must be looking pretty damn good.

I got to the barn earlier than I had initially expected because I got done with my immediate homework in good time. This always puts me in good spirits and then going to ride my horse just put me in the best of moods. I got to the barn, and chatted with some people, watched bits and pieces of a lesson, and got Dancer and started brushing him. It must be spring finally because he was shedding like a beast. It was at a point where I could not open my mouth because I would get a mouthful of hair. That is just gross, so I made sure my mouth stayed closed along with my eyes at some points. Dancer had a lot of dried mud in his hair and all over his legs too. It is crazy how dirty my horse gets when I go home for a weekend. It seems like he misses me so much that he gets distressed and has to roll around in twice as much mud as normal. His main and tail were all up in shambles and had hay sticking out of several strands. He was quite the sight for sore eyes. Maybe, he gets himself this dirty when he misses attention. If he gets really dirty, he knows someone will get out a brush. All these things are in the workings in his walnut sized brain. Dancer is a bright dude. This makes me wonder if his master plans have anything with taking over the world. Although, if this is the case, he LOVES me, so I will be okay. The sad thing, is I probably would take the horses side in a battle against people and horses. But, maybe that really is not a sad thing.

Anyway, I got Dancer all tacked up, and went out to the arena. We started walking around and right of the bat, complements started flowing. “He looks good,” “He’s tracking up nicely, “Why he looks nice and jolly.” One important thing to know about horse people is that, we do not need complements like “You look good,” “Wow, you are energetic,” “You are all smiles today.” No, we do not need those. Real complements in the mind of an equestrian are those given to his or her horse. If my horse is looking good, I am thrilled and that probably means I am looking good too. You see it’s similar to prom. It’s all about the dress; once you get the right dress you are pretty golden. Well, similarly, it’s all about the horse; once you get the right horse, you are pretty dandy. If your dress is good, you probably look good in your dress. If your horse looks good, you probably look good on him or her. See, it is not a complex concept.

Like I said before, my coach does not give out complements very often, so when my lesson started out with complements, I knew it was going to be a good day. We did lots of stuff, but did not have to spend much time on each individual thing because they were all being done so well. Not bad for someone who had been able to ride 20 this semester. I think about this because apparently Dancer is riding better than he has been, ever, but I have been putting less time into it. What does that mean??? Am I mastering the art of riding horses? Am I conducting quality rides rather than lazy ones? Does Dancer love Iowa State as much as I do? These are burning questions. However, there is not exactly anyone worthy to answer them. I guess, riding when I can, the best I can, and always with a splendid attitude has good results. Not being able to ride as much as I used to, makes me more and more pumped to go and ride and it clears my head better than ever. It is funny how little things can make a difference. This whole year I thought how college was messing up my riding skills, but it has been making them better and better the whole time. This is crazy strange, but completely awesome. I am so pumped to go home and ride this summer. I miss riding so much; I don’t think I could get sick of it. I will cherish every moment, because come fall, I will lose many of them. In the end, if I have nothing, I will be able to say, I can ride a horse, really really.