I was a horse nut as a child.
No doubt about it. I ate, slept and dreamt horses. I remember a junior school teacher asking me once if I might consider broadening my topics to complete a book report, story or project on anything other than the horse. I thought he was crazy. At the time, I took his comment as a personal slight, but looking back, he was probably just bored.
Do you remember those Participation videos; the ones with Hal Johnson and Joanne Macleod, sweating it up in their tights, encouraging us couch potato television viewers to get up and get going? As a little girl, my dream, my goal for participation, was to be able to catch my own pony and saddle it up all by myself and the day I achieved this feat brought me immense pride.
I competed heavily through high school in Competitive and Endurance trail riding. Unlike most teenagers, I spent my after school down time riding 5 to 10 miles. Weekends were for longer training rides or spent in competition, 25 miles and 50 miles posting away like nothing. I was fiercely competitive, and before graduation I made it onto Ontario’s Top Ten Junior Long Distance Riders list.
I loved horses, like I adore writing now, and writing about horses brings two of my passions together. I can’t think of anything better. I commented to my writing pals the other day how attending a writing meeting was like watching a horse movie.
When my best friend and I would curl up to watch our favourite horse movie, the kind of movie where the hero and horse must overcome great odds to succeed – be it in an epic endurance ride, or to win the Triple Crown or overcome devastating health challenges… by the end of the movie, my friend and I would be vibrating with energy. We couldn’t wait to get out to the barn and saddle our horses!
Watching horse movies spurred our best adventures; jumping the creek double bare back on Old Jimmy, our pre-teen legs barely able to grip around his barrel chest—the funniest part being when his farts caused him to dart off as if something scared him, riding bare back down the road in the dead of winter with our skates slung around our necks to play hockey on a frozen bit of field and harnessing up the little white pony to drive to town in the buggy to leave valentines on the porch of the boy we had a crush on.
All these (looking back now – pretty awesome adventures) started with slumps of boredom, where we couldn’t find the motivation to head to the barn, but a horse movie always did the trick!
At times I forget my writing passion. The demands of life take over. My writing aspirations get bogged down by the day job, driving kids to hockey and skating, cleaning my house and preparing meals and then I neglect my passion and fail to make the time to write.
When I hit a writers meeting and hear all about the amazing things my group members are doing, it inspires me to commit to something and work a little harder so I can keep up. I want to write as good as they do and at the next meeting, I want to be able to share something I’ve done to further my writing career.
I love horses and I love writing. Making the time for my writing group and doing my best to help encourage others is my new version of watching a horse movie.
