So, a lot has happened over the past couple of weeks that I’m not really ready to discuss quite yet. However, suffice it to say that it’s been quite the emotional roller coaster and I was also out of town for a full week, which, combined with the healing of Kiss’s “boob,” made for a lot of unexpected time off from her training.

I was supposed to ride with Jamie on Tuesday, but Kiss decided to be a full-on bronc when I put her on the lunge line to get her moving her feet and to see what kind of horse I had for that day. What I had was a horse that was going in the long reins. Even at that, Kiss is SUPER strong in the long reins, to the point where she was trying to drag me over to one side of the arena. At first, I felt like I had no control. Eventually, we worked on suppling and she relaxed and softened and became more “normal,” but it was rough going, like when you take off on a plane with a lot of turbulence.

The next day, I decided to hop on and see what kind of a riding horse I had. She was actually really good, albeit more rushy than I would have liked. Still, she listened and was being really good about stepping under herself with her weak right hind leg. We had to do a lot of stopping and backing up, but she was responsive and didn’t seem to get frantic at any point of the ride, so I’ll take it.

It’s really good for me to be able to be out there with her. Horses are so incredibly therapeutic. No matter how I’m feeling, I always get a calming reset when I’m around them. Kiss especially. She is always up for standing together, “cuddling” with her muzzle on my shoulder. There is no place on Earth I’d rather be.

It’s good to be back.