Unrest. . .

Thursdays have become pretty routine with the day centering around Gloria's horse lessons. Today there was something in the air, however, that seemed to cause chaos in my day and even among the horses. It's hard to explain but I guess you could say it was an unsettled feeling. Maybe it was the weather or maybe my blood pressure is up again but I had a feeling of unrest all day. The horses seemed to feel it, too. Before I was in a position to take pictures, these two horses were running and rearing up on their hind legs, pawing at the air. . .

Of course, as soon as I had my camera ready, they merely paced around and pawed at the ground a bit. . .


The ponies in the arena seemed a bit off as well. It wasn't especially noticable although they seemed to move a little faster than usual. . .

At first, the lesson was pretty routine as Kim talked to the kids about the importance of communicating with your horse. She's a great instructor and most of the kids are beginning to understand how to really ride.

The weather was uncooperative and very, very cold with a drizzle of icy rain sprinkling the horses, the kids and the riding arena. I felt like my bones were frozen in the middle. Towards the end of the 30 minute riding lessons, the biggest pony, Steele, decided he had had enough of everything as he tossed his head and started to gallop around the tiny arena. I understood completely. Fortunately his rider was able to stay on and Kim, the instructor, was able to stop him before he did any damage. The unexpected, semi-traumatic experience was handled very professionally by the two instructors as Kim rode Steele around, talking to him in a firm but gentle voice and Sarah, the other instructor, put the student who had been traumatized on the back of another horse and had her practice trotting in a safe, manageable way. It made for a pretty exciting lesson. . .

The next two groups had a difficult time as well although it wasn't necessarily due to the horses. It was just a weird day.

I'm writing this post at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday night and that unsettled feeling is still with me. Maybe it's because the snow continues to fall steadily outside and we're driving to Portland at 8:00 in the morning. Or maybe I should just take my blood pressure medication and go to bed. . .