Galloping In Central Park...

When I was still very young, daring, and crazy, beginning to forge my way ahead as a theatre set designer with promise, a grand opportunity presented itself for me to take part in a prestigious set design summer workshop in The Big Apple.🍎  So I applied for and was awarded a small grant to get to do this, which was a huge honor.

First, I am about to share with you a proven fact:  those who have the horse passion and/or those who work in theatre always, and I mean ALWAYS are drawn to one another even if there are a thousand other people around.  

So I was in the crowded waiting room to see my doctor one day a few months before going to NYC happened, having brought a book on theatre history with me.  Soon after I climbed into my book, a lady rushed over and sat down next to me.

"I knew it!  Before I saw your book I just knew you were connected to theatre!  My name is Annie, and I'm from New York starring in the play at Actors here!"

"Wow!  I'm Adelaide!  So nice to meet you!  I'm a set designer for the much smaller other theatre here and I love it!  How do you like it here?"

"Oh it's wonderful and people are really nice.  But I miss my friends, and especially my horse.  Will I ever be glad to get back to New York and see him.  I miss the city itself too."

"Uh Annie, you're SO not going to believe this, but I have a horse too!"

"You're kidding?!!  This is amazing!"

We exchanged phone numbers.  Then I invited Annie 

to go riding with me using my friend's horse Rory.  She jumped at the chance.  Said she hadn't been able to get out much.  So one day I took her to The Kentucky Horse Park which was new and then we even paid a visit to Claiborne Farm to see Secretariat too.  

Of course I was keen to know where in NYC one not only kept horses, but where one rode.  In the early 1980's there were still a few stables remaining in the city where one could board a horse located not far from Central Park, with bridle paths just for horseback riding.

Annie asked if I considered taking Selah with me.  At this point taking Selah with me hadn't even entered my mind, because you see only a crazy person would even THINK of taking their beloved horse to NEW YORK CITY too, right?!!

Right.  I wasn't THAT crazy.😂

Besides, board in NYC would be quadruple of what I was used to paying.  Yet more than anything, I had to put Selah first.  After all, I would only be away four months for one thing.  However, Selah had never been anywhere before to experience the massive amount of traffic and noise of the city.  She would be absolutely terrified.  Also she was used to being out in the wide open spaces of the farm I had her at.  In NYC she would be stuck in a dark stall for hours each day.  No way would I put her through any of this.

This didn't deter Annie and her best friend Heather, who also acted and had a horse at the same place Annie did.  A fellow boarder of theirs was to be abroad that summer and he was delighted to have me "adopt" Mugwamp (yep, that's what his name was!) the months I would be there.  So I had a horse to ride in NYC!

And friends.  Annie shared an apartment with two dear and funny as could be guys, and they all insisted there was room for me.  So I had a place to stay too!

Broadway during the eighties was exploding with the Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, then there was the hit about Little Orphan Annie, and Chorus Line.  In addition, Joseph Papp, who revolutionized theatre, was doing extraordinary things.  It was a very exciting time to be in NYC working in theatre.

After I arrived one of the first things we did was go to the stables so I could meet Mugwamp.  Then Annie, Heather, and I went to Central Park for our first ride.

We had to go a few blocks in the midst of all the traffic, and waiting our turns at the lights.  It was astounding.

The amazement of being in NYC with the gift of having a horse to care for and ride never lost its wonder.  And I was only asked a thousand times, "How DO you get ON your horse?"😂

Mugwamp and I quickly became close.  Soon he would nicker when he saw me coming.  How fun it was to be connected to a horse in one of the most unlikely places in the world!  

The four months flew by.  I absolutely love The Big Apple🍎.  It has indeed been for me an incredible place to visit and work in through the years, but not to live.  For I too, need my open space.  Even so, I miss the camaraderie of all who make the performing and visual arts happen there as NYC is definitely at the very heart of these.

Now that I am living with such rapidly deteriorating health challenges, my chapters in NYC and even galloping on a horse in Central Park, are yet more chapters of my life I am grateful to hold in my grasp because theatre and horse people always, and I mean ALWAYS, find each other.🐎😃🐎💫