Love at First Bite

I apologize, dear readers (all three of you), that I haven't written in a while. I went away with my brother, mother and sister. We were celebrating Mom's birthday and drove down to Savannah. An excellent time was had by all, it was wonderful to be together.

Upon my return I hit the ground energetically limping. That's as close to running as I get. First I had a photo shoot posing for a calendar called "the naked truth". I spent some very entertaining time posing naked on a beautiful horse. The horse photographed well.

The calendar is all very tasteful, I wasn't completely naked, I was draped in the Irish flag. I'm March, St. Patrick's day. I encourage you to visit the website and have a look. The 2009 should be out soon, and might make interesting holiday gifts. It's for a good cause --HIV/AIDS. I am just an old naked equestrian and I'm sure you'll get better information on the web page.

www.nakedtruthsc.com.

Something strange has been happening. I seem to be acquiring a life, a rather busy one at that. I am my own worst enemy, whenever the pain recedes, even slightly, I sign up for everything that interests me. I am interested in a great many things. I hope that I am learning to pace myself. I am in bed now and intend to devote today to rest and writing.

I have volunteered at a therapeutic riding center for a few years. I love the work, the people who work there, the horses and the clients. It's an amazing program. I am a "leader" which simply means I lead the horses while two other volunteers "side-walk" to reassure the rider and assure their safety. A few weeks ago I met a grey mare. She was beautiful, big and sturdy. She looked like the perfect Irish Hunter. She was also cranky and made an attempt to bite me and kick me. I didn't take her attempts too personally or seriously. In fact, I fell in love at once.

She really is a sweet horse. She's eight years old and as slow and lazy as most horses four times her age. Slow is OK in our riding program, we want safe horses. However, leading her is like dragging a 1200 lb. sack of potatoes for an hour.

I felt that as a young mare she should exhibit more joie de vivre. I spoke with her owner, a lovely lady who is recovering from a serious injury and recently had an absolutely beautiful baby. I started riding the mare this week. I'm a bit sore but it's a good, riding sore. When I got off her yesterday my spirits were elevated in a way that only riding can accomplish.

As Winston Churchill once said "The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man". Ever since I was a little girl the one thing that brought me more joy than any other was horses. Feeding them, grooming them and most of all, riding them.

I hope I can teach this young mare a few things. I'm certain her reluctance to work can help me build strength and endurance. It's been a long time since I had a horse to smother and fuss over. It's about time.