The girl is sitting in her last class for the day swinging her legs under her chair and glancing at the clock every five minutes. She cannot wait for that bell to ring so she can weave through her peers in the hallway and get home as fast as possible. All of her friends realize right away why she is racing to get home and why she cannot hang out after school. It is a Monday and for her, Monday afternoons are paradise. She quickly races home and runs into her room. Immediately there are clothes flying out of drawers and from shelves in the closet. She yells, “Mom where’s my riding pants?” Her pants are in the dryer so she races down the stairs and throws them on along with her Winter Glen sweatshirt. She yells to her mom that it is time to go and asks her to grab her camera and an apple or two. This girl barely puts her boots and half chaps on as she runs out the door with her bag in hand. She gets in the car and even took the liberty of starting it for her mom.Anything to get to the barn faster. When she gets to the barn she kisses her mom goodbye and hops out of the car. She breathes in deep and takes a look around. She does the same thing every time, first she glances at the barn then onto the arena and slowly she walks up towards the pasture fences to see which horses are currently turned out. She breathes in deep and the smell of hay and horses brings a big smile to her face, she closes her eyes and her mind clears. After standing there and embracing the calmness she feels she walks into the barn. She is immediately greeted by the smell of feed, leather and horses. She slowly walks down the isle of the barn saying hello to all the horses, but her heart starts to race as she gets closer to her favorite stall. Finally she reaches the stall, she hangs on the door and it slowly slides open. Next thing you know a big white horse is there to greet her. She puts her hand on the horses nose and begins to talk to her. Some people think it is odd that people talk to the horses, but she doesn’t care. She shares a bond with this horse that is just a great as a bond with any of her regular friends. The horse can smell the apple in her sweatshirt pocket and nudges at her. She looks down after this and sees that the horse got white hair all over her sweatshirt and spit and feed all
over the pocket. Her reaction at school or home if something got on her shirt would be quite different, but here she doesn’t care. That is one thing she loves about the barn, nobody cares if you have dirt on your pants, hay in your hair or anything. She always thinks, “Okay pony, your going to have to behave and work for this apple.” Funny thing is she always gives in. It does not take much, for the horse wins over her heart all over again. She carefully grooms the horse and tacks it up. Now it is time for the best part of going to the barn, her lesson. The horse and her walk from the barn to the arena trying to avoid the mud and puddles. Once in the arena the usual routine occurs. She tightens the girth and pulls down the stirrups. Every once and awhile when she is tightening the girth the horse tries to bite her. However she remains calm and turns around and says “No! You will not bite me.” She finishes this off however by telling the horse how impressed she is that it can turn its neck so far and it was a nice try. Now she brings the horse around to the mounting block and gets on. Once in the saddle her movements become one with the horse as do her thoughts and energy as she leaves stress and worry behind. The lesson goes routinely where she gets the horse to walk, trot and canter. Her favorite part of the lesson is jumping. The horse begins to canter and her body moves begins to move in harmony with the horse. They round the corner and pressure from her legs to the horses side get the horse to not turn too early. As the two of them approach the jump, her energy increases and the horse clears the jump beautifully. Excitement, grace, poise and control are all radiating off of her and the horse as they come to the next jump in the sequence. She keeps her head up knowing that if she looks down the horse will feel her hesitation and refuse the jump. One,two, three strides and over the jump they go. While in the air for those two seconds she thinks to herself, “I’m flying. I’m free.” They canter around the corner and she tugs on the reigns and leans back. The horse then comes to a stop and she leans down onto it’s neck and gives it a hug. She loosens the reigns and walks into the middle of the arena and watches to see her other
barn friends jump. She sits there and rubs the horses neck and thinks to herself, �Home is where the horses are.� The things they carried were nearly all the same. At any point you could see someone around carrying brushes of every size and color, combs, hoof picks, blankets, and treats in their pockets. All around horses would whiney and neigh for food, treats and attention that the horses knew they all carried. If they were getting ready to ride you would see saddles, saddle pads, girths of every size, pink, purple, cheetah print polo wraps, bridles, half chaps, crops and more. They all carry their passion and love for horses, along with their feeling of home when they are at the barn. Everyone here carries the drive to ride faster, jump higher and improve over all. They all carry the love of the smell of the tack room, which smells of leather, horse, dirt, and hay. When they ride it becomes obvious that they carry determination, control, peace and poise. The best days, are horse show days. At this time, they carry clean shiny new tack, freshly cleaned brushes, black velvet helmets and sports coats in all different colors. Everything they carry fits together perfectly like a puzzle. Everywhere around the barn there were people carrying ribbons that they had won and pride. Blue for first place, red for second, white for third and green for participation. They carry disappointment when they do not win and joy when they do. All around they’re carrying their love for horses and competition along with anticipation. While watching them ride in the show you see that they carry grace, poise and great control. They carry a connection with their horse especially as they clear every jump in the course set up around the arena. They carry and understanding and feeling of being one with the horse and they know that if they did not carry this, competing is pointless. It is necessary to carry control and confidence while in the ring. This control and confidence make the horse move how you want them to and at the proper pace so that you become one. When they become one with the horse and both the horse and rider move together in a
controlled, graceful manner, they walk out carrying shiny new ribbons, a sense of accomplishment and pure happiness.