Whisper at twilight, a new friend from the new barn.

Rising Rainbow mentioned my "horse goals" in her last comment. I honestly don't know what those are, which obviously makes it nearly impossible to achieve them. I feel like my equestrian journey has moved in fits and starts, derailed by injury, doubt and my own ignorance.

Since my aunt told me that she thought Missy had a back problem I've been doing research and talking to local experts at my disposal. I've come to believe that she doesn't have an issue with her back, but rather that what my aunt was seeing was a combination of an overweight mare who has never been taught to collect, who doesn't engage her hindquarters except at a full gallop and has had far too little asked of her. The property owner and trainer don't ask much of their horses or their students, including me. Many times my lesson has lasted 30 minutes or less, in an effort to "end on a good note" and to ensure that it was a good experience for both horse and rider. While I applaud this attitude in theory, in practice (for me) it has been stagnating.

Thanks to my new trainer, for the first time in my life I can now say that I've been "galloping Donna", as I pushed my gorgeous black Thoroughbred lesson horse Potter past the canter at the end of Wednesday's lesson. I didn't need to be told my technique was correct, I could feel my legs had just the right amount of contact and my seat felt secure, but it was incredibly satisfying to hear her say that was the best she's seen me canter, that I don't pitch forward anymore and my hands stayed quiet.

I'm rambling a bit...I guess my thinking is that after 4 years I'm just now feeling strong enough and good enough to be able to branch out into other disciplines and really discover what I like and what I don't like. Only after I've tried many more different disciplines and activities will I be able to set some goals, perhaps multiple goals. Giddy up.