Chronicles of Chaos
Amelia and Horses
Amelia likes horses. Not in a she has a lot of toy horses in her room kind of way.
She wants to ride.
When we lived in the mountains, there were more than a few celebrations where a horse meandered through as part prop, part activity. Amelia would run alongside the horse, taking as many riding turns as possible, edging out less certain children for their place in line.
I have no context for horses other than a miserable yellow jacket filled summer horse camp week in Malibu, and a trail ride in Hawaii where my horse seemed to most want to eat standing in one place. And like most of his childhood, Michael can’t remember if he ever rode a horse.
So for a long time with Amelia we just observed and listened.
We finally gave in to her riding lesson requests this past summer. I pushed the Christopher Reeve fears to the back of my mind and dropped her off at a ranch once a week for a month.
She loved the lessons, but more noticable was how they became a part of her life. Like they were always supposed to be there.
When we moved we decided that riding lessons would be a gentle transition to our new location. Every Saturday afternoon Michael or I drive her an hour away to a horse ranch in the rolling hills.
It’s changed our lives.
Which seems a big statement since we spend most of our time sitting in the car reading while Amelia has a lesson then runs around the ranch with a group of older girls. They build jumps for themselves and run courses, calling out direction and speed changes with words I’ve never heard before.
Our eye opening sensation is seeing (to be literal about it) Amelia connect with herself and the world in a deep way–she’s finding her own natural rhythm.
Plus the land is beautiful and though I’m quite certain a horse will eventually kick or step on me as I stumble through the barn, being around these big, powerful animals is profound.
I don’t worry about Amelia getting hurt anymore. I’m thankful that she’s taking us down a path we wouldn’t have found without her.
I went thru the same thing/fears with Blair riding. I was petrified of the Christopher Reeves incident as well as the horses themselves.
Then, of course, as soon as my fears subsided, so did her interest!
P