There are few little girls who don’t dream of one day having a horse they can call their own.
When I was little, I watched “National Velvet” and visualized myself upon that magnificent creature. When I was old enough to go to summer camp, the first thing I signed up for was horseback riding.
After that, the yearning only got worse. I begged my parents. Every birthday and every Christmas, I wanted nothing besides a horse. Of course, I didn’t bother thinking about the details that would follow afterwards, like where we would keep him, who’d be paying to feed him, and other little stuff like that.
We lived on an acre of land and I thought that was plenty big for a horse. And I promised my parents until I was blue in the face that I’d ride him even when it was twenty-five degrees outside. But my dad had horses when he was little and knew how much work they were.
He knew that horses are like trampolines and other fun toys. He knew I’d probably ride him a lot until the new wore off, then he and my mom would end up doing a lot of the work. So, I never got a horse; the closest I ever got was lessons at a nearby stable.
Then God gave me two daughters with the same love of horses that I have. They, too, went to summer camp and nurtured this affection. After that came the requisite begging at Christmastime.
Oh, how I wanted to give them some horses. Deep down it would have been as much fun for me as it would have been for them. But it was never the right time, or we didn’t have the right place, or something. But they have friends who have horses and they are invited to ride them from time to time.
Like recently. My 17-year-old was invited to go help a family friend pen cattle. She was SOOOO excited! She’d be riding horses all day long! I, however, was a little worried.
“Do you know what “penning cattle” means?” I asked.
She looked at me blankly. “Well, no,” she answered, “but it has to do with horses and I get to ride one.”
“Do you know what a ‘cutting horse’ is?” I questioned.
Another blank look. “Nope.”
I explained that she would be riding a horse that was trained to herd cattle into a pen and that the horse would be shifting from side to side so fast, she’d fly off if she weren’t careful.
Her eyes got big. Keep in mind this girl isn’t afraid of much, so I was relieved to see she was at least a little bit scared.
“That’s gonna be so much fun!” she exclaimed. Okay, so maybe not scared one little bit.
Well, she got out to the pens, and she began to mount her horse. With one foot in the stirrup, she swung her other leg over the horse. But halfway through the motion and before she was fully seated, the horse took off like a flash of lightning. She managed to stay on the horse but lost control of the reins.
The guys she left in the dust were sure she was a goner. Five minutes later, she returned with reins in hand and the horse under control. They were also pretty sure she would be so rattled that she wouldn’t want to ride anymore, but they obviously didn’t know my daughter. She was smiling ear to ear and asked when they were going to get started.
Later on during the cattle penning, the cutting horse cut quickly and she was almost thrown off. But she wasn’t, and again she wasn’t fazed.
When she got home, she was tired, dirty, happy, and excited.
And, of course, she wants a horse for Christmas.
