Christmas shopping can wait; we’ve got horses to ride!

Amount of house-cleaning done this weekend: Zilch.

Number of holiday errands crossed off my list this weekend: Zero.

Amount of training put in on the young horse (in beautiful riding weather, I might add): Zip.

Regrets: Nada.

Our place was bombarded this weekend by three small children – my nieces and nephew, ages 4, 6 and 7. The middle child, in particular, is a horse kid.

If the weather’s not cooperative when she comes to visit, we usually hole up in the house and watch horse movies. Anybody out there need to know a line from “Flicka” or “Virgina’s Run” (the two current favorites)? Just ask; I’ve got most of them memorized.

“Flicka” is such a fave, in fact, that one of my horses has been tagged with that nickname. Never mind that Junior is a tall gray gelding, rather than a wild black mustang mare. Mere details.

So, this weekend – when the cold weather decided to leave us be for a while – we saddled up Flicka. Thankfully, there were no mountain lions to contend with, nor was there a wild-horse-breaking contest. (If that doesn’t make sense, then you obviously haven’t watched the movie enough times.) There was a little Oklahoma wind, and two siblings who were probably more enthralled by the barn cats. But for the Horse Kid, it was heaven.

She sympathizes with Junior, er, Flicka, when he’s startled by a darting barn kitty. (I’m pretty sure his heart melted when he got a few pats on his withers and was told, “It’s OK, Flicka,” in that tiny voice. I know mine did.) She knows what supplements he gets to help his joints and how much grain he eats. She always throws a horse treat in with his grain, just so he feels special. And she knows how to brush out his red-dirt-stained tail the correct way, gently, from the bottom up – although there’s only so far up she can reach.

She’s definitely a horse kid, in that semi-obsessive way that only a fellow (grownup) horse kid would understand.

I don’t know if she’ll outgrow her passion (although I doubt it). And I don’t know where it’ll lead her. But I know that for right now, she has found a place where all her daily struggles melt away, where everything is calm and right.

Flicka’s saddle is a pretty good place to be. All the other stuff on my to-do list, well, it’ll just have to wait.

Happy riding!
Holly Clanahan
Editor, America’s Horse magazine

Don’t miss the fun, educational and heart-warming stories in the print version of America’s Horse! It goes to all members of the American Quarter Horse Association, and it’ll also keep you in the loop on Association news. We want you to belong!

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