Another Dream Come True?

When I was about 8 years old, I decided I wanted to take riding lessons. Of course, doesn't every little girl fall in love with horses at that age? 


My wonderful mother (no girl could have asked for a better Mom) took me to the riding supply store and bought me beautiful, shiny black riding boots. I loved those boots. We could ill-afford them at the time, I'm sure, but Mother knew how much I wanted to ride. I am sure she pinched her pennies for months so I could get those boots and riding lessons. 


I can't remember when or why I stopped those lessons, but I remember - as if it were yesterday - going to the stable, the smell of the manure, the beautiful creatures with the large heads and big eyes. And I remember Opera Gloves, the name of the horse that the stable owner had. She was a spectacular horse, pitch black with white gloves. I will never forget that horse. 


Years later, I became the recipient of a 2 year-old thoroughbred called French Dish. French wasn't broken, so there was no riding involved, but I recall so well going to the stables on Skyline Blvd. in Oakland, mucking out the stall, walking French around the arena. When the relationship that brought French into my life ended, so did my relationship with the horse. I got the friends; he got the horse. 


So now - at age 63 - I am considering embarking on another journey - learning to ride again.


Why now? The line from a beautiful song from "Wicked" says, "People come into your life for a reason," and so it was yesterday. I rang up a former classmate from my doctoral program to find out if she knew the health status of another classmate of ours. After we talked about our mutual friend, the chat turned to "So, what have you been doing?" Sherrie told me she had returned to riding (now, she is a serious equestrian; she is jumping horses!) about a year ago, after becoming an empty-nester. 


We talked for some time about her riding experiences. As she spoke, my horse experiences came flooding back to me. Sherrie said, "Why don't you look into riding?" in response to my mentioning how much I love horses. I told her about my back injury from ice skating, that DH said "No horseback riding!", that Dear Doctor (DD) said, "I'd rather you skate than horseback ride," and that I didn't think that an old gal like me could learn to ride. Sherrie dismissed the entire idea and told me to check into it.


Mind you, this is all too easy. We have not one, but two stables within a mile of our home! Of course, I immediately pop on to the Web to find out about riding lessons at these stables. Imagine my surprise to learn that they are less expensive than ice skating lessons - and that includes the horse! "Whoa, Nellie!" I thought, "How can that be?" Well, "Shut my mouth!" They are far less expensive than skating lessons.


Last night, I slyly I broached the subject with DH using my typical approach; to wit, "Did you know that riding lessons are much less expensive than skating lessons?" Silence. Then I got what I call "the look." Translation: Anything that costs less than skating, gets me out of the skating environment, and gets me into something else would make DH happy. He tolerates my skating activities so well, but deep down, he'd really like me to stop skating, I know that. Add to that, that he loves horses too. I definitely got his attention.


As I write this post, I am musing about this. If I ride, I can't skate. It's a simple case of economics. While riding lessons do cost far less, one cannot do everything one wants; one must be reasonable after all. But, having said that, I am taking the first step. Tomorrow (maybe even today if I have time), I am going to both the stables by our house to check them out. This is very exciting and scary too.


Onward into equitation land. That's a horse on you - or rather, me!