Hold your Horses

I've not been having a good time lately. My daughter's father and I are once again at a legal impasse. You see, we've been divorced for the best part of 3 years (separated back in 2010) and things have been chaotic ever since. Two years in and out of court for said divorce, custody matters and property settlement. Throw in a forgery and uttering conviction (on his part) and him pursuing a relationship with my ex best friend (they had an affair and well, they're still together) causing complication to the mix I've been a bit frazzled. Sometimes the crazy just gets the best of me and I need to take a bit of time out.

My time out comes in the form of equine therapy. I currently own and lease a horse from a friend. So, by rights, I take care of two equines. They cost me about $40/week each. The blessing is that my daughter can ride both of them and we take turns so she's not left out (she loves horses as much as I do). Equine therapy is sometimes just brushing and spending time with our horses, other days we go for rides and some days we have lessons. Today was just riding with a little bit of jumping thrown in.

My daughter sometimes doubts her abilities to ride. I've been encouraging her as best I can. Today though, the smaller of our two horses got the better of her. She didn't think that he could jump. So we swapped. I let her ride the big fellow Beau (she's just as safe on him as the smaller boy) and I rode Oscar, the small one. Oscar and Beau are both ex racehorses. Though they may have raced, they have taken so very well to no longer being a racehorse. Beau is 8 (the same age as my daughter) and is about 16.3hh (about 169cm at the shoulder). Oscar is 16 and is about 15.1hh (about 154cm at the shoulder). Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Beau is uncoordinated with jumping as he's never really done much of it and Oscar is a bit harder to get moving. Beau has better brakes and Oscar needs a little more 'runway' to pull up. They both test my daughter in different ways.

When we swapped horses she found that she could still ride Beau well that he was more forward yet he wasn't as coordinated over jumps. When I started riding Oscar, I could prove to my daughter that he would indeed jump (at least 60cm). She eventually got Beau to do as she wanted and discovered she could indeed do it. She has a lot of self doubt.

Of all the things I could waste my money on, I see horses as a good investment for my daughter. She gets the time spend with them. Feeding, brushing and caring for them and she gets the thrill of learning new thins when she's riding. Horses are one of the few things that keep my daughter focused most of the time (she's a bit scatterbrained but she is also 8 so I give her leeway). I know it's a lot of money but I don't go out much, I don't drink and I don't party like it's 1999!

In all honesty, I think horses are good for the soul. They kept me sane throughout all of the tumultuous times dealing with the courts. They have been a part of my life ever since I can remember. I hope to have them as part of my life for many years to come.