Animals

Animals have always been in my life since I was a small child.  Growing up we always had cat, a dog, and a bunch of rabbits.  Mom and dad tried to keep the rabbit population under control, but the male rabbits would always chew through any barrier her would build.  So we always had quite a few hopping around.  The cats were the same.  Every time mom would take them to the vets, they would be pregnant again, and we would have to wait.  The good thing about having babies around, there is no questions on how they are made or how they are born. 

After a while we did manage to get the cat and rabbit population under control.  As my sister and I grew older, we started to bring home the sick and the injured.  We had birds, snakes, raccoons, skunks, ducks, frogs, and lizards.  It was great when they lived, but not so great when they died.  My parents only let my sister and I do this for one summer.  They could not take the emotional toll and I am sure the financial toll of playing vet to the neighborhood animals.

Next Christmas they decided to get my sister and I some gerbils and fish to keep us occupied in our obsession for caring for animals.  Gerbils and cats are not the greatest pet combination we found out.  The cats tried to break into the cage for a tasty snack all the time.  One time my sister got bitten by one of the gerbils and she dropped him.  We looked everywhere and could not find him.  Just when we thought he became a snack, I noticed all the cats jumping at the ceiling on my parent’s bed.  The gerbil was running between the subflooring!  We finally caught him and put him back with his friend.  They lived out their remaining lives uneventful.

Now that I have children of my own, small animals just do not cut the cake for them.  Yes, we do have 3 cats that are spoiled, but they were not enough for my girls.  Horses are their calling.  I do have to admit, when I was in my teens, I did spend some of my summers working at a barn taking care of these wonderful animals.  There is something about a horse.  They can sense your moods.  They pick up on if you are having a good day or a bad day.  They are like very large, very expensive dogs.  So when we moved, I promised my daughters that I would give them riding lessons.  I was hoping they would not catch horse fever.

I was totally wrong about that.  When they first started to ride, it was cute.  They would walk, trot, and canter.  They would go over canter poles and small X's.  The first time they fell off it was scary, but the ponies were small and it was not a long drop to the ground.  But as the girls grew in size so did the horses and the jumps.  The horses were no longer the point and shoot kind.  Now they had to tell them where to go, when to go, when to jump, and when to stop.  My youngest had the first scary fall.  We called it "The Fed Flintstone Dismount” She basically slid down the horse’s neck and took his bridle off with her butt.  Only injury was her pride.  Her next fall happened in a field when the horse took off on her and she bailed.  She got her fingers caught in the reins, but no broken bones.  

Then we changed barns and bought our own horse.  The oldest daughter took a bad fall off a trial horse while looking for ours.  She sprained her ankle badly.  But thank god no broken bones.  Needless to say we did not buy him.  We found our old man (17 at the time).  He is a great guy.  We had some great time with him.  The girls learned a lot about taking care of horses, healing injuries, and just loving them to pieces.  But the girls skills out grew the old mans.  My oldest decided she wanted to run and just rides every now and then.  But my youngest is competes every chance she gets.

Eventing is what she loves.  It is a very demanding sport for both the rider and the horse.  Unfortunately many spills happen.  She has been thrown through a fence, into jumps, into trees, and on the ground.  As a parent is sucks to watch your child get thrown off.  Yet you cannot help but feel proud when they get back on and finish the course.  It always amazes me how the horse stops and looks for the rider to make sure that they are ok.  That they did ok and they did not mean to hurt them.  It is a unique bond that forms between a horse and a rider.  If they are a true pair, they will take care of each other.  Like today, the horse she was riding lost his footing and started to do a summersault on top of her.  But he managed to get his footing back and only kneed her in the back.  This could have been a disastrous fall for both the horse and rider.  Because of the bond between them, the horse did everything in his power to keep my daughter safe.   She got back on and finished her course.    This just strengthened their bond even more.

Tears of joy, tears of pain, tears of pride, and tears of love were all shed today.  It is amazing how animals can affect our lives.