The Entertainer

“I’m still an entertainer and always will be... Everyone can go where their mind takes them.  You can live in imaginary places without feeling the real terror or the real pain.  I make the images.  I open the door.  I can inflame….and I can heal…and comfort…and get people to understand.”  
                                                               - From Wild Horses by Dick Francis

I have been rereading many of the books by Dick Francis.  His words captivate me.  No matter what subject, he writes with such a sense of knowing.  Based on his writing, I’d say he could give “The Most Interesting Man in the World” a run for his money.  Either that or he is incredibly good at research.  To my knowledge, his works are in no way autobiographical, but they read with the same sense of realism.  He is truly an entertainer.  He brings the passions and pains of lives we will never live straight into our hearts.  

I’m not sure that it is just a coincidence that his subject always involves horses.  Like Francis, horses have a way of filling us.  They can both fill our hearts and dash our spirits.  They create a fantasy world for us.  Through our love of the equine, we meet new people, learn new things, travel to new places, reach peaks of euphoria and hit rock bottom.  They teach us to love selflessly.  We learn discipline and reward.  Horses, simply, open our eyes to a new way of viewing the world.

For some, the closest they will get to these equines is in fantasy.  They are the subjects of dreams and the backdrops of mystery.  I was cautioned as a teen, to keep my passion and my hobby separate from my job.  I took the advice and always wondered if I made the correct choice.  Slowly I am coming to the realization that for now, they were absolutely correct.  We all need our fantasies.  We all need a place to which we can escape.  Horses offer that safe haven.  I am blessed to have them.

In turn, I have always hoped to share them with others.  They are too great a gift to keep tucked away.  I hope that through this blog, through the helmet cam videos, through pictures and Facebook posts, that you get to share in the fantasy world.  I used to dream of becoming a professional rider, of managing a huge yard of horses, of sponsorships, and of living the professional life.  Turns out I am living the life.  It is just from a Fresh Perspective.  I am too an entertainer.   All I ever wanted to do was share the passion and let you into my fantasy.  I don’t have to be a professional athlete to share the dream.

“He’s playing at what he wouldn’t really like to be, but the imagining of it fills and satisfies him…A good strong fantasy life, I’d guess, saves countless people from boredom and depression.  It gives them a feeling of being individual."       
                                                                                - Dick Francis, Wild Horses

Thank you, Admiral, for reminding me of the joy horses can bring.

 

Half-baked

“A half-baked idea is okay as long as it’s in the oven.” - Unknown

Several times since January 1^st, I’ve sat down to write.  I wonder if we’ve lost something in this digital age.  No longer can you crumple a wasted sheet and toss it across the room to the waste basket.  Sure, the computer’s recycling bin makes a satisfactory whoosh when you empty it, but I miss that primal crushing of a stalled out idea.  My brain seems to miss it as well.  Most of my thoughts this year have only been half cooked. 

Here are some slightly soggy, half-baked happenings so far this year:

We brought home a new horse for New Year’s Day.  She had an independent attitude that I thought would translate well to eventing and I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for grey mares.  Plus, she was the perfect giant twin to our little pony.  Unfortunately, she really missed her heard mates and never really settled into the routine at our house.  Worried that she would start losing weight, we took her home again.  She was very happy to be back with her friends.  I have no doubt she’ll be happier living out her days there.  Somewhere in that experience were posts about fresh starts and knowing when you were in over your head.

Try two is a Connemara cross gelding.  He is very much still a baby in personality, but all business when you get on and go to work.  So far we are really having fun and I am looking forward to sharing our adventures this year.  We’re working on our dressage and learning to use our whole bodies.  We’ve hopped over some little bitty cross rails and we have tackled the big wide world with trips down the road.  He is quite the character.  Time will tell whether that character will lend itself well to competition.  I could already fill a book describing his quirks, but more on that later I’m sure.

Otherwise we are staying very busy.  The weather has been blessedly uncomplicated.  The horses are spending more time out then in, which means better attitudes and less work.  I had the privilege of giving a couple of Pony Club rating tests.  I haven’t gushed about the value of Pony Club recently so let me take a moment to say that it is a truly wonderful program that helps create responsible horsemen and women.  Those kids often go on to do wonderful things thanks in no small part to the organization that gave them a real leg up in the real world.  So many skills I use daily are skills I learned in Pony Club.  There is probably a club near you.  You can learn more at ponyclub.org.

It has taken me five days to get even these scattered thoughts down on paper or into binary code as the case may be.  I should really take some time to polish, flush out and perfect these fleeting thoughts, but then I ran across this quote:

“My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.”  - Anais Nin

That settles it.  I have horses to ride and sunshine to enjoy.  Sometimes a Fresh Perspective is just a brief glance in a new direction.