Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I wrote this yesterday... I think it describes bonding pretty well...

 

 

 

I decided to go off of Coffee yesterday, cause I was told it will help kick start my metabolism.. I have not lost any body fat in a year, I have been working out for a year, and nothing has changed...

 

anyway, I think I am addicted as I had a powerful headache last night... today, I was drained, no energy.. none, so I had a handful of Chocolate covered Peanuts, I know, they are not on my diet, that I am trying to do.. but man, I needed something to get me moving... that worked.. Thank goodness

 

I was going to start on Decaff coffee, but it tasted so bad... yuck... so today I drank water... but I am going to have to find something for my morning ritual, cause I think that is going to be what I miss the most now.. I love coffee in the cold winter..

 

Today, I had a gift...

 

Here in Mn, it gets muddy when the spring thaws come, so for the horses, I always get a load of gravel... it helps to keep the mud down, helps to keep their hooves trimmed, and does a great job of keeping the hooves dry and tough for riding on rocky trails... anyway... I was home, not working today and Dan, asked me to call the gravel company and have a load brought over...

 

I was not in the mood... to tired, to low, to I guess you would say depressed to do what needed to be done to get the gravel in.. but, It was cold out... we have had a warm spell here, and the cold had the mud frozen solid... so, it really was now or maybe never... or at least we would have to wait till another cold day arrived when I was home...

 

I grabbed the phonebook, reluctantly, and found the number for the gravel... "Daniel here,: he said, "Dan, can you bring over a load of gravel today?" "sure, I can be there about Noon," he said.

 

I said, Great, I will have the horses Penned out, but they will be off the water, so I will put them out just before you come OK?"

 

Well, I got my self all dressed up, Jeans, sweats, turtleneck, lacy liner, wool sweater, wool socks, coat, neck gaiter, hat, gloves and tied on my insulated hiking boots... I went out, the sun was bright and shinning... the wind was howling as I walked out to the barn I could feel it sting my cheeks just below my glasses... I took some hay out to the pasture, Duke and Chey followed me out... I put up the gait so they could not return to the barn... then I did the same thing for Jewels herd of 4... I put up a gait so they could not return to the barn either...

 

I still had to open a couple more gaits so the 12 yard Dump truck could bring the gravel in... once that was done, I decided to head back up to the house... I sat on the front step out of the wind and listened to all the sounds around me.. oh, it was beautiful, sitting in the sun listening to the birds and the wind... the cars on the highway were in the distant background...

 

I sat there, realizing how lucky I am, and how grateful I am for what I have.. that years ago when I met many of you, I lived in town, I was alone, and lonely, I had 2 small children and no horses... I remembered how many times I longed for the country, a cowboy and a few good horses... in that moment, I realized, I have exactly what I wished for so many years ago, I have a beautiful home, a beautiful energized piece of land in the country, a wonderful cowboy, and some great horses, dogs, cats and chickens...

 

( as I typed this, a beautiful ray of sunshine just landed on my hands, and of course I cried )

 

I sat there in the noon sunshine and held my hands up as I sat and thank God/spirit for what I have today... It was peaceful and energizing... of course, maybe the Chocolate covered Peanuts were starting to kick in too.. but, to know that I am where I wanted to be, living a life that is far better then I ever imagined was something to be very thankful for...

 

Interestingly, Dan, the gravel man, and a distant Neighbor, was Late... he was talking to my friend Jim, Susie's Hubby... I laughed when he told me that.. but was also grateful that he was late bringing the gravel, because I had an opportunity to open one of the many gifts today...

 

Daniel, dumped the gravel, the horses were all curious and excited to get back to the barn area... Water is there and the Wind break is there so they wanted back in... Jewel was dancing around, and herding his Herd all over the place. Duke and Chey were not nearly as excited about getting back in, but they were hanging at the gait...

 

It took us a while, cause the Truck hit a post, So we had to take time to fix that... He gave me a discount cause he broke the post... which was nice of him.. but, I still had some fun ahead of me

 

Daniel was on his way, I closed the gaits and let Duke and Chey up.. they walked over the gravel and went to the barn for a drink of water... no big deal for them.

 

I let Jewel's herd in... what  difference.. they were so excited to have Gravel.. Jewel walked up to it first and started to walk all over, pawing, turning circles, looking for the perfect spot to roll, I had walked up with Charm, a coming 2 year old Black Filly... she walked right up onto the 5 inch thick strip of gravel. She too started to paw, and I knew she was going to roll.. it was so cool to have her lay down right in front of me and roll... what trust she has in me to expose her belly to me, only a foot from me...

 

She got up as River came over, not to be out done by Charm, he is a beautiful Sorrel Morgan Gelding circled and laid down and rolled, right at my feet too... He was so close, I had to step backwards... He got up just as Jewel, and Molly were pawing at the piles of gravel near the entrance to the pasture... and near the opening to the barn... It was so much fun to watch them fight over the Hill of Gravel... they all wanted to play in it... Jewel rolled, then pawed, reared and danced... Molly, our little pony mule, was hilarious as usual, she makes me laugh... she was trying to lay on the side of the pile of gravel, but it was just not right, so she pawed some more, then tried to lay and roll on that... Jewel thought that looked like fun, so chased her off, she kicked in the air, he spun around and kicked back... I decided, I was in the middle of 1000 lb animals who were about to have a little more fun then I could join in, so I walked over to the barn where I felt safer then right out in the middle of the dry lot... I laughed and and smiled and watched the herd as they played in the new gravel... they were having so much fun... then all of a sudden, Charm, came over and stood watching with me... she stood right next to me, looking right where I was looking and sighed... I put my arm up over her back, and watched with her.. what a partner she already is...

 

Yes, I am lucky to have exactly the life I wished to create years ago...

 

Debbie Soderberg Kirchner

 

Rochester MN