Transitions Stink….but are often for the best

Dixie at Winterview Farm

I don’t remember what the last straw was, but it was finally pulled.  My parents were afraid to say it to me.  Herald Farms was where I spent every spare second of my life for the past 4 years.  This was where my dream of owning and riding horses had finally come true.  It was also where all of the horse people I knew and liked kept their horses.  But to be truthful, whatever had happened had hurt me too.  I’m not sure if everyone has this, but it’s a feeling inside that just says, “I’m ready.”  It’s a restlessness that even though the next step is big and scary, you just know that it’s right and it’s time.

A girl at my school had a barn so we made arrangements to move Dixie there.  My mom broke the news to Mrs. Brenda over the phone.  Until just now, I never thought about how hard it must have been for my mom to make that call.  We are a very loyal family, and as frustrated as we had become with her, we loved her.  The day after my mom made the call, I went out to the barn.  I remember standing on the top of the stairs at Mrs. Brenda’s house trailer – we were both crying.  She hugged me and said she had never cried when a boarder left until me.  I believe her.

Dixie was moved to the new place.  They were a very nice family, but it never felt like a home.  The barn was dark and musty, and at 5’4″ I had to duck to walk in the stalls.  There were no other boarders to ride with, and Dixie and I usually ended up walking through a neighborhood that backed up to the property.  We wondered up and down the asphalt roads spooking at mailboxes and manholes, wondering if we would get yelled out for leaving big stinky “presents” in front of the cute suburban homes.  During this time I got restless, so I began to take English riding lessons.  I had always wanted to jump – most likely because of The Saddle Club series of books I had spent years buried in.  Before too long Dixie and I moved on to the barn where I had been taking lessons.  That barn became my horse family.  It is where I stayed until I eventually moved to another state, and it’s the barn I still visit nearly every time I go home.

Quick reminder – Dixie was a barrel horse.  We were now at an English hunter/jumper stable.  Those two do not mesh very well…

Lesson for the day #1:  It’s called a step of faith.  When you know it’s right, just do it.

Lesson for the day #2:  Sometimes leaving a big stinky “present” is necessary to save one’s sanity!  lol

Soli deo gloria

~Sarah