In March of 2004, my wife, Beth, decided that after 35 years of marriage we had given and received most of the usual anniversary gifts, so she wanted to treat us to something unique…a riding lesson at the Mystic Valley Hunt Club. My first reaction was that she was looking to cash in on my life insurance policy by getting me to saddle up at my advanced age.
Well the fateful Saturday rolled around and we both showed up at the barn ready to go. It was no problem selecting a horse for Beth. I, on the other hand had one choice—Kindly. He was a big fellow with sparkling brown eyes, huge hoofs and a mane and tail to match the best of them. It would have been love at first sight but as far as I was concerned this was my first and last riding lesson. I was just keeping Beth happy.
We were shown how to groom the horses. We were taken into the tack room for a
saddle, girth, pad and bridle selection and then instructed in how to tack up a
horse. Not much scares me but I can tell you that every time Kindly twitched, I
stood up and tensed up, and I hadn’t even mounted him yet! Once “tacked up” I
led my trusty steed to the indoor ring and was shown the finer points of
mounting him. Once up there, it didn’t feel too bad as long as he didn’t move.
Then it was walk, adjust the stirrups, walk again, check my hand position, slow
trot (are you kidding me), posting (what the heck is that) and a discussion
about something called cantering (I don’t think so). Thirty minutes later the
lesson was over and I figured that Beth had gotten this riding thing out of her
system and that would be that. WRONG! On the way home she said how much she
enjoyed the lesson and that maybe we should really think about taking up riding.
It was something we could enjoy together, it was good exercise, it would get us
out in the fresh air, yada, yada, yada. She was hooked and I felt a knot in my
stomach. Thirty-five years ago I would have thought that this was great. At that age you think you are invincible and you fear nothing. At my age you know you are breakable and you’re afraid of everything. Anyway, not to be outdone by my wife, I agreed that I had a good time (sure I did) and I consented to another lesson at some point in the future (2010 would be about right). Wouldn’t you know that as soon as she got home, she scheduled another lesson for the following weekend. I was cornered. The next lesson came and went and then the next and the next and the next.
To make this part of the story a bit shorter, it took me six months and several falls, but I finally got up the nerve to canter, and I actually stayed on Kindly. Somewhere along the way Richard Luckhardt introduced me to jumping and I WAS REALLY HOOKED!
Beth and I had talked about buying a horse but at some time in the future. Kindly had always been my favorite, even though he was a little spooky as a school horse (who wouldn’t be). Once Deanne bought him (it was too soon for me to even consider owning him) and I leased him from her and he was loved and ridden by the same two people all the time, he mellowed out and started to enjoy being a horse again.
Fast forward to September 21, 2006 the day we bought Kindly. The opportunity to own Kindly presented itself again when Deanne called and said was going to be selling him and asked if I would be interested. I said yes, but that I would need a few days to get things in order. I spent hours on the Internet learning all I could about horse ownership. Things like vetting, de-worming, supplements, shots, sheath cleaning, etc. After convincing myself that I/we could do it, the daily exercise, the money, the snow, the money, the cold, the money, the rain…you get the picture, I called Deanne and said “Let’s do it!”
Well, Kindly is a member of my family now, and Deanne still gets to ride him. We just reversed rolls. He’s happy, healthy and we’re teaching each other new things everyday.
I would not be doing what I’m doing now if it wasn’t for my instructors and the folks at the barn who put up with all my questions: Richard, Moira, Lisa, Claire, Erica, Sally, Robin, Frances, Colleen, Valerie, Joanne, Carol, Tracy, Alexis, Kim and most of all, Deanne.
By the way, “One of a Kind” is not only Kindly’s show name, but also a statement of fact.