My World.....A Look Back..

Do you ever stop and wonder, what happened to all those "Pie in the Sky" dreams, you made as a young adult ?

As a teenager, maybe a few years earlier, I had two things that were literally "my world".

The first was a dream of becoming a veterinarian....I loved animals, and was always happy to be around them.

My second, was to be a show-jumper.

I was introduced to horses through an uncle, who owned a riding school. I knew very little about their care, and even less about riding them.

Everyday, I spent hours down at the stables. Cleaning out stalls, watering, feeding, grooming, in return, I was given riding lessons.

Eventually, I became a confident rider, travelled and participated in gymkhana's, which in turn progressed into show-jumping.

I won rosettes, and prizes, and most important of all, the admiration of my fellow peers.

My days were filled with horses, I could not think of anything in this wide world, I would have wanted more.....

My uncle was one of the best-known importers of "Irish stock" horses. Their bloodlines far superior in the realms of horse-breeding circles.

I was given a young colt from Connamara, Ireland. It was my job, to break and train him, and show him in the local horse shows, consequently using him as a breeding sire.

It's a hard task to take a young stallion in the show ring, and expect him to remember what he's been taught, when all he thinks about, are pretty fillies everywhere.

Somehow, we made it through, and accomplished our goals together. The hours we spent riding together over the English countryside, will be forever in my memory.

The last time I stopped by the stables, to say "hello" to my old riding friend, he was 26 years old !

He remembered my voice, and the two of us were reacquainted almost three decades after our first encounter.

Several years ago, I wanted another horse. We actually ended up with three. A Tennessee Walking Horse, an American Quarter Horse, and a spirited Appaloosa Thoroughbred.

At the time, we had to lease acreage, in order to have somewhere to ride, not the best option, so we decided to sell.

Lately, I have been bitten by the horse bug once again. I would just settle for a donkey, or a miniature horse or two, something I could groom, or talk to, and feed a carrot at the end of the day.

I'll hold onto those dreams........