Journalist By Nature: Southern Comfort

Mini-vacations can be as renewing as longer ones when taken often enough. With four available days I headed south to spend them with a friend who is a horse trainer, riding instructor and generally versatile horsewoman. Entering her world of all things equestrian is a true vacation away from the familiarity of my world. With the temperature kissing up to 100 degrees I rolled into the scene of acreage, horses, dogs, white vinyl fencing, manicured lawns and western decor. The setting alone was enough to coax a sign of relief from my weary heart.

Iced tea tinkling in cut glassware, we dined on the patio awash in the gold of the setting sun, horses munching on their evening flakes of hay, dogs wrestling on the lawn and nighthawks clearing the air of bugs. Conversations of the heart soothed the soul and reconnections fueled our friendship. It was early to bed, early to rise as life on a ranch starts with the sunrise.

Grooming Esmerelda

Early is not my calling so my friend arose ahead of me, started the coffee and accompanied by the dogs headed for the barn to begin the daily chores of caring for horses. Returning for me, we grabbed a quick breakfast and coffee to go and headed out to care for horses at another location. Once there we faced the usual tasks of stall cleaning, water bucket refills, morning flakes of hay and an exercise walk for an injured animal. A canal runs near this farm so we took the mare Esmerelda out for her 40 minute therapeutic jaunt along a dusty trail that parallels it. Her injury requires her to stay in a stall and pen, which irks her as she has been in training for dressage, so a walk on a lead rope is a joy to her. She pulls ahead now and then and must be reminded that the trainer is the boss, not her. Once back in the barn I am given the privilege of grooming her. The stroking and brushing mollifies her need for herd contact and she shudders in enjoyment.

Two other horses are tacked up for their lessons. Calvin has successfully recuperated from his afflictions and is put through his paces for competition. At the request of the trainer, I am doing my first videography project to make an assessment film of horse and rider. Setting up the camera on a tripod, I adjust my location for optimal angles, don my sunhat and stand at the ready. Following a moving target that not only goes left and right but towards me and away from me offers a challenge to keep the image in the camera the same size at all times. Slowly panning and zooming in on the distant angles I must quickly adjust to zoom out and rapidly follow the trotting animal as it comes close to my location. Take two. It is better this time but the arcing sun begins to reflect on the screen and at times I am shooting an empty scene. I searching the arena for the horse and begin filming again. Take three. The scorching sun is beating on my bare shoulders, my hunched back is aching and I am thirsty but without time to run for a drink. By this time the horse is frothing, the rider is dripping with perspiration and I am getting cranky from the heat. Break! I sigh in relief.

Tinkerbelle is a young Oldenburg in training for dressage and she still thinks she can have a hissy fit in the middle of her lesson. This requires time out for discipline so the filming stops and starts as she and her trainer hash out their pecking order. Soapy-looking sweat begins to form on her lovely equine body as she fights for control but her trainer won't quit until obedience reigns. The choppy filming is finally over for the day, not achieving the goal of a completed course, but good training for me in a new skill!

A third ranch greets us in the heat of the day as we arrive for a student riding lesson and trail ride. This facility is stocked with gentle lesson horses geared for students at various skill levels. In the outdoor arena young girls are mounting for their lesson in beginning jumping. They have been practicing so their instructor calls for them to line up and do their jumps with arms outstretched, reins untouched, balancing in the two point position. They perform with skill and balance, making the jumps look easy. Several lesson horses are oddly given the run of the property so they wander in and out of our conversation groups as if trying to join us.

Practicing the two point balance

The student arriving for her private lesson is an amazing young woman who has worked diligently to overcome the disastrous effects of a horribly bungled birthing delivery that left her with cerebral palsey. Told by doctors that she would most likely die within 24 hours of birth and if she did survive, would never walk, her mother, a horsewoman, wouldn't accept that prognosis. She began to ride with the baby, gently walking her horse around as she cradled her infant to her breast. At nine months, the girl was held carefully on the horse's back as it walked. Eventually the girl learned to sit up, stay on the horse and ride by herself. Now at 30, she continues to take lessons and progresses toward goals she sets for herself. She lives independently and enjoys a sense of normalcy despite her physical challenges.

Horse riding therapy is recognized as an effective means of enhancing the abilities of people with certain physical and mental restrictions. The rhythm of the equine walking gait mimics human hip action and brings an increased sense of balance to the rider. Mounting backwards on a horse accentuates this walking therapy effect and allows the rider to feel as if they are walking in an uninhibited manner.

Once the lesson was completed, we tacked up our horses and headed for the trails. The hilly countryside was parched from lack of rain and the oak trees were dropping crispy leaves on the bone-dry ground. Clouds of dust were kicked up by the horses' hooves as we wove our way up and down the terrain, dodging low-hanging branches and stepping over fallen logs. The lesson today was retaining an erect but properly leaning posture to match the inclines and declines. This barn horse, Major, was anxious to be done with today's rider so he galloped up the hills and stumbled down the valleys, always with an eye in the direction of home. Reinmanship, to perhaps coin a word, was a struggle of the wills as I fought to turn him away from the barn and back on the trail. At one point I endeavored to retain my balance when my foot slipped out of the stirrup and Major decided to take a sharp corner. Fighting to stay in the saddle I gripped him with my legs, grabbed a hank of mane and righted myself. Disaster averted once again!

Proper posture

I requested a brief lesson in the covered arena, partly to leave the blistering sun and partly to gain a better understanding of horsemanship. I was instructed in the two point position where heels and shoulders are aligned, butt floats above the saddle and a point of balance is achieved that allows for forward action as in jumping barriers. It is much more difficult than it looked when those young ladies did it in the outdoor arena! Two days later I could hardly walk from the muscle strain. Lessons may be on my list of new adventures. Returning to the barn we hosed and squeegeed the horses and returned them to clean stalls to rest from their labors. So went the average working day of my equestrian friend.

The opportunity to help others in their worlds is always a joy for me. Mucking stalls and grooming dusty horses, hauling manure, sweeping barn floors and cleaning tack are mundane activities that take on an absorbing calmness for the novitiate. Step outside your normal zone now and again to find another corner of your life that needs enhancing. Southern comfort does it for me!