Horses, Horses Everywhere!
It’s been a very horsey week.
I had a meeting with a new instructor, someone I hope will be able to help Cirrus and I continue to grow in our partnership. She asked me to write out goals before our meeting - the things I want to work on and get help with in our lessons (things to better help her help us!). The weird thing is, I don’t think I’ve ever had a horse instructor ask me to really focus in on what I wanted to learn. After thinking about it, this seems a little crazy to me because doesn’t it make sense to have both teacher and student be on the same page? If I ever teach anything, I’m keeping this in mind.
The whole thing had me feeling really hopeful and excited to begin learning (instead of nervous, as is my usual state when I work with someone new!). The words she used and the way she was able to connect to both Cirrus and I reminded me so much of the mentality that pervaded our barn in California - which is to say there was a lot about working together, as a team, to build language and understanding instead of using force to get my way.
Since coming back to Colorado, it’s been hard to find a teacher who wants to work with horses in this way. Maybe it’s that whole idea of needing to own and control the things we find beautiful, but most of the horse people I’ve met don’t seem to be all that interested in finding partnership with their horses - and I’ve struggled with that. The first barn we were at, after our move home last spring, was a rough transition. It was so close to our house, so beautifully convenient - but not a good fit at all. I knew it was time to go when, after showing management the swollen and bloody bite marks that Cirrus was receiving from his pen mates day after day, I was told that this is “just how it is” when horses live together and that I should get on with “working” him.
To contrast that, when I went to tour our current barn the first thing I saw was a lady in the round pen with her horse. The horse decided to lay down and have a snooze in the sun and she just waited patiently with a smile on her face. No hurry. No chasing or whip cracking. I knew I’d found my people. And when Cirrus finally arrived, the first thing he did was let out a long, long sigh. His ears were up, his eyes soft - he was instantly at peace.
So to have found a teacher who is as excited about helping Cirrus find himself as she is about helping me reach my goals - it seems like a miracle. I am hope-hope-hoping it all works out well.
On Friday, Eric and I went down to Denver for a National Western Stock Show double-date with my best friend. We went to see my favorite show jumping event, where riders choose their course and rack up as many points as they can in a set time. We gasped. We cheered! We took many, many pictures.
The grey horses have always been (and will always be) my favorites and I always yell the loudest for them. What can I say, unicorns are just my type!
So with all of this horsiness on my mind, I was of course inspired to make something horsey - so I’m in the process of building not one, but TWO pairs of horse hair earrings. Both pairs are centered around matching sets of turquoise that I found during (and have been hoarding since) last year’s trek to the Tucson Gem and Mineral show. I thought about keeping them for a little longer still, only to realize that two weeks from today, we will be back in the land of saguaros and cactus wrens. So I’m letting inspiration turn them into something more than drawer ornaments as I make room for the many new goodies I’ll be picking out then. Pictures to come soon!
I also finished up a magnificent moonstone Laurels necklace this week
The stones ended up being a little bigger than others I’ve used for this design (it happens, when you shop online!!) but I decided to go for it and build a Laurels necklace on a slightly larger scale. It feels like a precious piece of vintage costume jewelry - and something about the vine motif and the flashy blue-white of the stones has me envisioning the 20’s. It is the definition of glamorous, through and through.
And now I’m off to eat some soup, knit a bit, and maybe catch a glimpse of tonight’s full lunar eclipse - its a glorious end to a busy, busy week!