Too..

This has been a week of too’s, not two’s but too’s! Too cold, too tried, too sore! Too much inside my head. Most of you know from reading my blog or from just being in close range of me that I spend so much time rattling around my brain determined to find some cause or reason for the state of being. Too much brain traveling leaves a young man tired and saturated. By good fortune my ponies and pupils are always there to wake me from my melancholy and put me back on my path.

Being too exhausted for concentrated work at first light and without my usual sustenance of Java ( you won’t be surprised I’ve giving it up again) I tacked my treasured boy with a certain slowness of mind. Still paying attention to detail but not with any fire in my belly. We wallowed through the wintery mud and set forth for work in the outdoor. Brisk doesn’t cover how bloody cold it’s been but a sure steady sun meant the illusion of warmth at least. Without an absolute plan in mind we took to playing, breaking the usual rules of warming up and working in. As his body loosened out and limbered up so in turn did my mind. With Rex growing more powerful underneath we bypassed all those grown up thoughts and went right to the little boy and his horse. Moving across the arena for fun and just for the sake of movement brought a whole new feeling to the quality of the training. I couldn’t tell you what exercises we did and in what order but I allowed myself to let the exhaustion temper my instinct for correctness and formality. By the time we’d finished we’d had one of the most successful training sessions to date.

Give in to the small child in you, the one who loves horses for just being horses. Play, ride and have fun for once, schooling will be still there tomorrow.
 

Routinely my students remind me of this journey to believe in the dream, in the joy of just riding. Letting confidence and a standard blossom from giving in and forgetting all the musts and shoulds, suddenly nothing seems too much anymore. I thank my students for giving me the pleasure of teaching and allowing me to be part of their dream, their joy and fun.

Tomorrow I’m sure to be still too tired but for once I now know it doesn’t matter. Fun or formality, whatever happens I’m still living my dream.