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Monday, January 27, 2014

Courage

Finding new ways to pose dramatically
And now the little man finds himself in the unenviable position of taking over the role of a horse so completely irreplaceable.

He's been the back up all along, making do with the leftover scraps of energy and attention that I had. I was never able to fully appreciate who he is, because nearly every time I saw him, I'd say "Courage, I'm having a rough day and I can't take much more. I need you to step it up."

I know it wasn't really fair to him, but it was all I had.




That precious winter sun
But every time, he'd respond. He'd try his giant heart out and make me laugh with his constant quest to be the best at everything he does.

I call Courage a midget and I know he's never going to fit into the size three easyboots that Cuna left behind. They are both remarkable in their own way and in order to appreciate that, I need to let the little bay horse come into his own.


Hands in the air, feet on the dash
The good news is that he really wasn't waiting for me to be ready. Early last week we had a couple days of 40f and sun, so we bummed around the arena with friends. He was so quiet and chill that I called him my western pleasure horse.







When it's too cold for breeches
The world is frozen solid again, but I wanted to try a saddle out on him. The neighbor launched a remote control helicopter, a big dog started running around, a firetruck rolled down the road, and he and I just walked around calmly. 

 He is the best at January.

Cuna brought me here. Because of the old man horse, I am absolutely ok with swinging my leg over the little bay horse and walking off into the fog. I'm not afraid when I plan our sun-soaked summer adventures. I'm ready to ride forward and jump all the things.  Cuna brought me to Courage, and now Courage is taking me on.

Courage and I have had six months together, but I really feel like our journey is just beginning.

17 comments:

  1. Seems like each horse in our life teaches us different things we need to learn at that partucular time. Pretty amazing... In my case it has been whether I realized at the time or not.

    Cute little horse you have there, glad you had nice riding weather :)

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  2. I'm so glad that you are able to enjoy Courage. While he will never be Cuna I think he will be pretty awesome in his own right.

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    1. *This*
      I couldn't have put it better. Courage is awesome, I hope weather imprpces and you can truly get to know each other.
      *hugs*

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  3. Things happen for a reason. I'm glad you have Courage!

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  4. Love this post. It takes a lot of courage (small C) for you to move on like you are, and I it's wonderful that you have a little bay horse to help you along. Glad you're still posting. :)

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  5. So happy you have Courage to help you through this time.

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  6. Take good care of your mom Courage- seems like you've already got that under control :)

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  7. So so corny but I have to say everything does happen for a reason :) Looks like Courage is off to a fine start.

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  8. I heart this post so much and totally identify. Sometimes, especially early on before we got to know each other, I caught myself kind of giving Encore the short end of the stick emotionally because Solo is, well, Solo. As we've built our relationship though, I've found much more success and bonding with him because I make sure that his time is HIS and the same for Solo.

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  9. I had a lovely little (like, seriously little, 15.2 ish) red OTTB who I picked up as a training project. I found my old guy getting pushed to the back burner as the training horse got the attention, the time, the work. Dallas was my go to lesson guy, but I probably rode him all of 6 times in 6 months. Then the training horse was sold after almost two years (like they are supposed to, although I was very upset about it), and all of a sudden...

    It was back to just Dallas and me.

    It was strange. I felt like I was starting over with a new horse. Not that he did anything wrong, but I rediscovered all these things about him. Fell in love all over again.

    It is hard and strange and bizarre I look at a horse you love, swallow deeply, and say "all right. Some stuff happened, and we drifted. Things aren't the same now, but we have to keep moving forward". Sounds to me like you are doing the best you can, and I'm proud of you.

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  10. "Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending". One of my fav quotes!

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  11. Glad you decided to take on Courage, he seems like a great horse, perfect boy to keep you in the saddle and moving ahead, even when its hard.

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  12. 6 months? Can't believe it.

    His name is more and more fitting.

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  13. I am so glad that you have Courage to walk beside you through this hard time. *Hugs*

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  14. So fitting that he's named Courage... enjoy your rides!

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  15. I'm so excited for you two to really blossom together this year!

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  16. Courage doesn't need to take Cuna's place. He deserves his own, brand new chapter in your horsey life.

    Enjoy the new chapter!

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