promise

Promise me you won’t leave
And I promise I’ll stay forever
Promise that you’ll love me
And I promise I’ll do whatever

Promise me the moon
And I promise you the sun
Promise me the stars above
And I promise you already won

Promise me a wish
And I promise you a dream
Promise me no broken hearts
And I promise you a scheme

Promise me you’ll promise
To do what must be done
But don’t forget, a promise
Can become a broken one.

 

That poem was inspired by the promise I made to the filly the last time I saw her before she went away: to be back. It doesn’t matter how much you mean what you say: a promise is a promise, and a promise can always be broken.

 

Anyway, moving on to something more cheerful, I want to clear up some stuff. In my last post, I mentioned lost progress, but I’ve also mentioned (some time ago, really) that the filly was much less shy. That was true for a time, but at this point she’s skittish again, although hopefully not as much as she was before. What I was trying to stress was the broken connection; it was like she didn’t know me. She wasn’t really scared of me, but she wasn’t of anyone. It was like I was just one in the crowd, and that was almost as sad as when I learned she was gone in the first place.

What if I’d known? What if I had known that she was leaving, but in nine long months, I would see her again? It was like my promise had never been broken… only compromised. So is a damaged promise better than a broken one?

 

Onto the clinic:

I got up at 6 45 and got ready; we left at 8. Once at the barn, I visited with the filly and generally just hung around with the girls at the barn and Bonnie as they readied their horses (Bonnie had already gotten Tonka ready for me, since I couldn’t be there the night before). We left with Tonka and a pony from the barn, Jack, and when we got there, unloaded and groomed and hung around some more while waiting for Jen to arrive (she had to make an extra trip to pick up a horse). Once she was there, everyone tacked up and we headed out to the ring. Basically what we did was practice with different types of jumps, and longer courses. The facility was really nice. It even had a huge covered ring with lights, and footing that was shredded carpets mixed with sand (probably around $600,000 overall), although we didn’t ride there – just walked out our horses. It was amazing. I had a ton of fun. :D Tonka got fast once, but he was pretty good otherwise.
I really need to get better with my leads, though. :( I can’t even check them anymore. I know that I need to be looking for one leg going out further than the other, but I can never tell. It’s so embarrassing. I want to ask Bonnie how to check them, but that’s even more embarrassing – I’ve been riding and cantering for years, and I pick now to tell her I don’t really know how to check my leads? I mean, sometimes I guess right, but others I don’t. I’m just lucky that Tonka always changes  them for me if they’re wrong.  *sigh*

 

Well, that’s what went down this weekend. Peace. :)

Love, TBK

written from my laptop, finished 2 44 PM [Mon, May 17, 2010]