Before my horse Montana, there was Dandy, my first horse, who I leased and rode for over 2 years. Of late Dandy’s front legs were giving out; torn ligaments that wouldn’t heal. It’s a very painful thing; equivalent to us having our feet bent to the side and walking on our ankles with the added weight that is a horse. I had to say good bye this morning; yet again I witnessed a horse being put down; the difference this time, was that hes one of my best friends and actually much more than that. Dandy saved my life a couple of times. Once figuratively, once literally. I met Dandy days after I decided to get divorced a few years ago now, and of course at the time I was as at quite a low point in life, the lowest I’d ever been. But discovering horses, and Dandy in particular, was one of the best and smartest decisions I ever made. Quickly I realized that life would go on, and more importantly that it could be even better than it had ever been. All because of this horse, who by the way was one of the laziest horses you’d ever meet - but not an ounce of mean in him, he was just a good boy; always and everyone loved him for it. I took off on solo trail rides with him often; and there in the woods, life became simpler and clearer. With nothing but the near silent crush of leaves under his hooves, he leant me his strength when I had next to none. And despite his reputation as the laziest horse, he was as most are - incredibly fast when he wanted to be. Aside from our slow slog through the forest, once we got to the open field, we would canter through the tall grass - a sensation that if you have done it yourself, you know it’s one that’s tough to beat - in its simplest form, you’re flying, five feet off the ground. Flying. It’s underscores what it means to be free, of everything. This came in handy the second time Dandy saved me, this time from some immediate danger. I’ve told this story before, probably a few times to some of you, because it was both terrifying and thrilling at the same time. On one of our solo trail rides, he spooked, first from a feisty fisher cat that rolled out of the bushes, hissing at us. Dandy, who has seen and done it all, didnt spook much. But this small weasel of an animal was a bit hostile, so Dandy jumped about five feet to the left. Which in itself can get your heart racing when in the saddle and really put your balance to the test. What happened next was beyond anything I had expected while riding in the woods of coastal Rhode Island; seconds after the fisher cat tumbled from the brush, the trees parted on our right, revealing a black bear. Both mine and Dandy’s heads turned to the right in unison, which lasted about a half a second or less - then we were off, like never before, non-stop for about a quarter mile. I’d never been so happy to be on an uncontrollable horse. Through a long wooded trail, up hill, across a football field sized clearing, then another wood trail, and then another field and then we stopped - and I realized yet again, that life was only going to keep getting more interesting, and better, from here on out. And it did, much of which was due to Dandy; and today I watched him fall to the ground with a soul crushing thud and die, which just plain sucks. I know he’s better off and no longer in pain. And Donna, who’s barn it is and who’s horse it was, gave him a great life. But still, it sucks - good friends are a privilege.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 18:15:13 +0000
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