A year ago today I awoke like it was Christmas morning and I was 7 once again. Thanksgiving had been the day before, the season of joy now upon us! Our little camper was blue with early morning light. It was cozy under the covers, little dog cuddled in my tummy, but he was getting restless and I knew the cold outside was just a few minutes away. It didn’t matter because I was giddy! I really felt like a little kid again, the magic of presents unknown suddenly appearing under the festive tree. Things dreamed but not held; thoughts of what could be. I dressed in my warm, pre-dawn clothes and put the dog’s collar on. Out in the cool, quiet Arizona morning, my eyes adjusted to a landscape I had only seen in dusk the day before. Camps dotted the horizon, shiny metal trailers with large, still animals tied to them or penned close, my present was here somewhere! We walked out of camp to the tall grass so the little dog could have privacy and do his business without distraction of the large animals he had never seen before.
As his business commenced in the brush ahead I looked out into camp again, the light was getting better, definition started to appear on the big beasts, Sorel, Bay, Dapple, Buckskin and Greys stood out against the golden autumn grass. I panned the horizon, back and forth from top to bottom. When my gaze came again to our camper I saw her. She was just behind us, about 70yds away. In my exit from our spot she had been obstructed by our own trailers! I felt tugs on the leash signaling business was finished and something interesting had been found in the grass! I pulled the little dog back to me and tucked him under my arm.
“Let’s go meet your horse sister!” I said and walked softly back into the stirring but mostly sleepy camp. When I approached she was eating, head positively buried in a hay bag!
“Hi, are you Star?” I asked as she munched away almost louder than my voice. At the sound of her name she stopped and brought her head up. “are you sweet?” I asked offering her my hand to smell. The little dog was as entranced with her as I, he stayed still and calm under my arm as the big nostrils took a breath in. Her warm, velvety soft nose probed my fingers for a treat, then as if ok’ing my touch she turned her cheek so I could rub and scratch her face. “You are sweet!” I said and then went on with a semi prepared speech I revised a million times in my head over six months. This beautiful charcoal and white spotted girl had a new life ahead of her as my horse! I hadn’t even been back in the saddle for six months when I first saw Miamis Morning Star (now called Storm). A friend of my riding mentor bred Appaloosa horses, when I told him i hoped to buy an Appaloosa down the road he mentioned he may have a horse for sale.
The first picture I saw, she stood under a tree with her new colt, Jupiter. Her mane was short and her tail just cleared her ample hind but even in its scarcity it was tricolored and beautiful. In this first picture she looked round from a pregnancy lasting almost a year, but I could see she wasn’t a large horse. She looked perfect for me. At that moment, against all advice and better judgement I fell totally in love with her and began picturing the day she could be mine. In the six or seven months I had before we met I worked on my riding, horsemanship and confidence. I had dreams we would gallop through fields together (we have), the next sleep a nightmare her owner decided he didn’t like me and wasn’t even going to let me ride her. Now finally here I was with her nose in my arm, sniffing me, smelling my life and deciding if the scent was ok. I spent about ten minutes with just her, these were the moments I hoped for. No influences around to make her behave or get her worked up, unadulterated, getting to know one another time.
One year later these quiet moments with her are still my favorite. When it is quiet Storm speaks the most to me, sometimes to complain but mostly to share her thoughts and love in simple, soft ways. Like when I hug her and she wraps her neck around me or puts her head on top of mine. 900 pounds of animal sharing a hug with the person who has waited a couple lifetimes to be her partner! We have braved literal and figurative squalls together, sometimes I know what to do and when I haven’t Storm has. We prove our trust and trustworthiness to one another more and more every time we ride. Completing over 1000 training miles and 97 competitive miles as a team this past year has put us further than I thought we’d be by now but there is still so much to do. So many miles to ride and adventures to have, it makes a lot of mornings feel like Christmas these days!!
