"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
If I could have it my way, I'd never leave the back of a horse. There's something about the way they move that's indescribable. But it's sensational. It's almost like flying; it sets your soul free.I love it when I'm jumping my horse and we're soaring through the air and dancing around the turns. The first time you fly over a fence of any decent height, you'll understand. It's empowering. Suddenly, the ground is no limitation to you. All you have is sky, and adrenaline, and this strange sense of peace. The only boundaries you have left to break is how high and how fast you can go.
And today, when I rode, I pushed these boundaries even further.
I didn't think I'd ever gallop until I moved out of the city. Arenas stuck in the middle of suburbia aren't made for galloping. Besides, everyone here is so hunter-focused that speed like that is rarely called for. But jumper lessons are my time to fly, and today, I was finally able to hand-gallop.
My horse is a jumper at heart. I never thought I'd have to kick him at the canter. But one swift kick and we're changing gears, charging forward like a mighty Crusader. Faster, faster; higher, higher. The jumps are raised, and we're rocketing over them, fences that look like mountains to this wide-eyed hunter. The usual 2'3" morphs into 2'6" and glides into 2'9" and suddenly I'm jumping more than half my height, leaping over oxers and through bounces like a ballerina from The Nutcracker. It was graceful and exhilarating all at once.
Sure, I'll soon be back to my hunter turns and pristine posture, but for just that one hour, I was able to melt away my old reality and create a new one: one who flies without wings, and leaps without fear.
So long, Goal #65. It's been a blast.
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