It was always better to play a game with a team of friends. No matter what we were playing I was never one of the first ones picked to be on a team. No hand eye coordination was a big factor, but I didn’t care, as long as I was on a team. Most of us have our favorite team in sports, whether it’s baseball, football, hockey, basket ball or what ever floats your boat.

I never found my true connection until I got into horses. Yes we did things in teams too, but the best team effort was between me and my horse.

I read a book, years ago when I was a teen, and right now I can’t remember the name of it. It could have been “Heads Up.” I actually think it had an orange cover with a girl jumping an Appaloosa over a very high vertical. If I remember correctly she did this in a Circus or something. At any rate, and I also forgot the horses name, when ever she got into the ring she would say to her horse “Okay ?name?, it’s only you and me, Heads Up, and off she would go.

I connected with a horse that no one else wanted to ride at the barn. Her name was Bossa Nova, but I called her Lady. I wasn’t looking for the connection, I didn’t really care about this particular horse, but I was told that she was the horse I was going to ride. She was a typical mare with the ears back, snarling at all the other horses. Would throw a kick now and then, but she could jump. Since no one else wanted to ride her, she became like my horse. Every time I taught a lesson or took a ride out, she was my partner. Now I was 16 years old trying to take out a bunch of Sunday cowboys who were trying to impress and scare their young girlfriends. They watched too many westerns back then. So Lady always came to my rescue. All the horses knew her and no one would pass her. She was not a fast horse, but if someone got by her, she would take off, cut them off, and throw a buck at them. I promised her back then that because she had taken care of me, I would take care of her for the rest of her life, which I did. She died at the age of 36. We were a team.

I’ve had many horses since then. Some I raised from foals, and some I acquired through rescues. But through the years there have been special ones. Ones that became a team with me. One gave me my confidence back after my Thoroughbred caused me to doubt. My hero was Movin’ Machine, I called him Mac. He showed me that we could do anything we wanted out on the Hunt Field. Then came my second foal Desert (first one, not so much). We knew each other so well neither of us had to say a word. Then there was Magic. Opinionated witch, but boy could she Hunt. She knew the blasts on the horn and what they meant. She would jump anything and take on anyone. Even when she lost one eye. You didn’t mess with Magic and you didn’t tell her no when she made up her mind. Dawnie was my baby, a Clydesdale lap dog. My sweet child. After we had a Hurricane one year, she would plow through the downed trees and make a way for the Huntsman. If I said it was okay to do, she did it. Desert was the same way. He walked over an 8 inch wide (two planks) washed out bridge over a ravine because I told him he could.

Barrel Racers know that there is a connection between them and their horses. In Open Jumping whether it’s Olympic or Stadium, if there is a connection you see it. Even Dressage, if there is a connection it’s very obvious. The horse will shine, and give an extra effort to please his rider. There, you will see, pure love between them.

We all look for that special horse that we become one with. When you do get one, there is nothing like it. Don’t be discouraged if you never get that with your horse. Don’t fight it, you two were just never meant to be. Make the best of it and move on. It’s like people, some people you connect with and some you don’t. But when you find that special horse, it becomes something you can’t explain. It’s a soul connection. You become one. No words can explain it, it just is.

When I used to take Lady into a show ring to jump, I would block out the crowd, and I would always say “Okay girl, it’s just you and me, Heads Up.” I can still feel it to this day, and I smile.

If you have it cherish it, it is soooo special. If you don’t, just enjoy what you have and let them be a teacher, all mine were.

Just something to think about because these days are so unsettled.