Flight

People were meant to fly, we just were designed well. If you look at many of the activities that we enjoy, the sensation of flight is a common theme. Skiing, biking, kayaking, sailing, horseback riding, I've heard them all described as flying. I fell in love with English riding the first time I went over a jump. I was truly flying and it was terrifyingly elegant. I was on top of a huge beast (17 hand horse, ~5'8" at the withers) flying through the air; if I fell I could easily Christoper Reeves myself and I knew it. But it was freedom and it was amazing.

I don't remember I time I didn't love horses. Unlike a lot of kids I was never afraid of them; I always thought they were adorable (even the giant ones; 'cute' or 'adorable' are the two words I apply to most incredibly large animals) and I wanted one. When we moved from CA to MT I had only one caveat: I got to take horseback riding lessons. I wanted so badly to be a barrel rider.

So I started taking English riding lessons. It was the only fully-heated year-round arena that had lessons close to our house. At first I definitely wasn't sold; I'd always thought that English riding was all about fancy outfits and spending tons of money and that the horse did all the work. While they do have fancy outfits, and it's not cheap, it is far from a leisurely ride. I did not expect to work as hard as I did. It was challenging and so much fun. My coach was awesome and she pushed me really hard right off the bat. 

Jumping is tricky. It takes precision, fore-thought, and great riding skills. Falling off is riskier than hitting the ground when you've got a four-hooved animal charging around you. I still have the scars from one of my falls, and a second one was a near-miss between my neck and the railing. Like I said, I could easily C.R. myself. I learned a lot of great skills from riding that I've been able to apply to a lot of other sports, not the least of which is control over the smaller muscle groups in my body. 

I only competed for 3 years (only rode for just under 4), and most of my competitors were very much my junior since I didn't start riding until I was a sophomore in high school. That doesn't stop me from enjoying my ribbons; my first show I only did one event and got a 5th place ribbon, but I'll always treasure that one more than my blues or my reserve champion ribbons. My best how experience was my biggest embarrassment; I was halfway through my circuit and my horse shied before a jump and refused to move. I ended up having to make him approach it 3 more times before he went over. At that point I was already disqualified, but I was so proud of myself for (a) not freaking out and (b) ignoring the people around me and winning that argument with Fozzy (the horse). We had more events and if I let him win there it would have been all over.

Competitive riding was the first time I'd ever performed in front of an audience with no nerves. Before my first show I was warming up and I felt sick to my stomach with nerves. I couldn't do it; I knew I was going to fail and it was going to be awful. But as soon and I crossed the threshold of the arena to compete I was more still and calm than I'd ever been before. It helped that it was my home barn, but I was almost in shock with how comfortable I was. Even with how often I've been hurt from riding, I don't know anywhere I'm as comfortable as in the saddle (except for on skis).

Unfortunately riding is one of the most expensive recreational activities out there and so I had to stop riding. It was okay because I had school and work, so there was little time for me to continue, but I still miss it. I recently moved my saddle here to Utah knowing full well I can't afford to lease a horse or take lessons. Plus I still have no car so I have no way to get to a barn regardless. But still I can look at the simple curves of the English saddle and it calms my mind. It's meditative for me, and it's one of those wonderful things that I can take back up at any time. It's part of why I've selected a career path with the kind of pay scale as I did; I will own horses, and I will ride again. Scratch that: I'll FLY again.