Moment

I hadn't done this in quite a while.

I was afraid I wouldn't remember how. Nervous. Anxious.

I walked in and was overcome by the smell of sawdust and hay. It was like coming home again.

A barn cat brushed against my legs and purred with contented excitement when I bent down to scratch its soft fur.

There he was.

An overweight lesson horse. A short, fat, half Quarter Horse half Clydesdale.

I rolled my eyes.

This was beneath me. Beneath all I have accomplished. Even if its been a few years.

I haven't done dressage before but I am a reserve Congress champion.

Um, but not in hunt seat, not equitation, not an over fences class. It was Showmanship.

Shouldn't I be on a better more advanced horse?

Hi ego? Dial back in.

But then as I swung my leg over his vast back and put my feet in the irons. I was reminded it truly didn't matter what horse I was on. I just wanted to be on one.

To feel the power between my legs, the rhythm of the gait, the strength of the horses drive.

I was back on the horse and it was like I never got off.