Freedom Ride

 For a long time there were very few things that could make my heart thump. Then a couple of years ago I decided to chase a dream.

When I fist contacted the HMA barn it was to pursue barrel racing. I loved horses, loved rodeo, loved cowboys and wanted to combine those.  Barrel racing is still a dream, but HMA gave me a bit more than that. 

I didn't really know a thing about horses. Well, other than they're pretty, big, pretty big, and that I wanted one. The closest I had ever really been to horses was on a trail ride and even I knew that didn't really count for much towards experience.

My first lesson was on Lacy, a beautiful Pintabian.  I'm hoping I'm not making that up. I'm pretty sure that is it, though.  The owner was (and still remains so today) an amazing woman, who was very patient with me and extremely knowledgeable. When I got on Lacy that day, I knew nothing.  In that saddle, though, on top of top her back...for the first time in a long time I knew me and I felt free. 

Every worry that I had just kind of vanished. I knew nothing other than what I was being taught and I had the confidence to chase my dream a little bit more. 

That seems like years ago, but still today these beautiful creatures have the same affect on me. I am still with HMA, but heaven only knows why Mama L puts up with me.  I clean stalls every other Saturday and I don't know many people that would enjoy that, but I do.  For those several hours every Saturday (even on my non-stall days I'm out there), I'm free and I can dream.  

When I look into their eyes I see such peace and happiness.  I know how cheesy that sounds, but there is a sense of serenity that I don't often feel. Every ailment disappears and my thoughts are clear. I see that girl I want to be.  I see the girl that I think that I am. More importantly, I see dreams and stories to create.

Like when I see Maizey on a cold day when her breath looks like smoke rising from the ground. She presses her nose against mine and for that brief moment I get to be that Native American Princess decked out in a beautiful white gown with her hair flowing in the wind as she and her horse appear through the fog to a cliff overlooking an empty valley as the sun sets west coloring an endless sky in pink, blues, and purples.

Then there is Big Mac. A beautiful warm blood, Irish Draft Horse.  Quite frankly he is a tank, but he seems to like me.  At least I'm hoping. I don't really have any visions per say when it comes to the Mac, but I love those few minutes that we just stand there and he sniffs me or puts his cheek against mine or the day that he stood over me and put his chin on the top of my head. Just for a moment I felt like a girl and her horse.  Standing there and petting him is pretty close to heaven, but that goes for all all the four legged critters at HMA.  

That is why I ride, though, and it is why I love horses. For those few minutes, whether it is cleaning their stalls or giving them water, being on one's back or having one beside me while I help with a lesson...I'm free.  I get to be the girl that I want to be.  All the worries and all the stress just seem to disappear and for even just a little bit I feel hope and confidence that the future isn't as dim as it often appears.  Horses are my freedom ride and that is all I need to often face another day.

That is my freedom ride. What is yours?

Live, laugh, love and let it ride.

~smh~

(for more photos you can check out my photography page https://www.facebook.com/FreeFirePhotography)