Those of us who boarded and cared for our own horses at Blue Heaven Stable were on the "wrong" side of the road outside Wildwood. On the other side of the road were people driving Mercedes and BMW's with close access to the vast trails, fields, and lake. These were horse owners who rode expensive horses they paid others to care for. And though they really looked down their noses at us, you will see one day something very special happened which opened their hearts and changed some attitudes.😃
Each summer the town of Wildwood held a horse show for the elite. After the Danny & Renegade fiasco I wrote about recently, the townspeople of Wildwood realized (aside from Danny that is😂), there were some REALLY very nice horse people on the "other" side of the road.
Ben on his horse Rory (yes, we had a human Rory and a horse Rory!🤠) was doing the stretch before mine. In the far distance I could see John approaching Ben who was ahead of their rider.
So one day the Mayor of Wildwood asked if we would participate in Wildwood's Cross Country Relay Horse Race. Though we agreed we were not crazy about doing it. That is until we were not so nicely challenged by the Elite group, who claimed they would leave us in the dust "where all of YOU belong."🤔
To them we politely accepted. To each other we were determined to leave THEM in OUR dust where we thought THEY belonged. We had enough of their rude attitude.🤨
The Relay Race would be a mile and a half long, no jumping, but some sharp turns, shallow water, and small hills. Judges would be stationed throughout.
There would be six participants on each team. We decided our team would include Ben, John, Margie,
Lucas, Rory, and me on my horse Bashum. Since
Bashum and I could REALLY gallop fast and I was as daring as hell, it was decided Bashum and I would do the final stretch to help make up for any time lost during the previous stretches. Our intent was NOT to lose any time if we could help it.🙂
On the day of the event it appeared the whole town was there. And EVERYONE from our barn came to support us.🤠
Soon after we arrived a member on the other team
LOUDLY yelled (for our benefit) to his teammates, "Hey look! They've got the midget riding on their team! How crazy is that?!! These losers haven't got a chance!!!" Some of their supporters also joined in on the ugliness.
Just before Ben, John, Lucas, and Rory were about to go DESTROY the idiot I made them (#1) know that if I could handle it they could too, (#2) he was doing it on purpose to upset us, and (#3) yes it was mean and it was ugly but let it go.🤫
The time arrived for riders to mount their horses and take their places on the course.
To them we politely accepted. To each other we were determined to leave THEM in OUR dust where we thought THEY belonged. We had enough of their rude attitude.🤨
The Relay Race would be a mile and a half long, no jumping, but some sharp turns, shallow water, and small hills. Judges would be stationed throughout.
There would be six participants on each team. We decided our team would include Ben, John, Margie,
Lucas, Rory, and me on my horse Bashum. Since
Bashum and I could REALLY gallop fast and I was as daring as hell, it was decided Bashum and I would do the final stretch to help make up for any time lost during the previous stretches. Our intent was NOT to lose any time if we could help it.🙂
On the day of the event it appeared the whole town was there. And EVERYONE from our barn came to support us.🤠
Soon after we arrived a member on the other team
LOUDLY yelled (for our benefit) to his teammates, "Hey look! They've got the midget riding on their team! How crazy is that?!! These losers haven't got a chance!!!" Some of their supporters also joined in on the ugliness.
Just before Ben, John, Lucas, and Rory were about to go DESTROY the idiot I made them (#1) know that if I could handle it they could too, (#2) he was doing it on purpose to upset us, and (#3) yes it was mean and it was ugly but let it go.🤫
The time arrived for riders to mount their horses and take their places on the course.
Of all things I discovered I was riding against the Idiot himself. With the judge present though he remained quiet. In the distance a huge crowd had gathered at the Finish Line.
Ben on his horse Rory (yes, we had a human Rory and a horse Rory!🤠) was doing the stretch before mine. In the far distance I could see John approaching Ben who was ahead of their rider.
Suddenly something happened!
When the rider facing off against Ben stood up in his stirrups to reach for the baton the same as Ben was doing as John approached, the right stirrup strap of Ben's opponent snapped.
We would have immediately been declared the winners but dear Ben did a very noble thing. He asked if the judge would allow the rider who just finished to give one of his straps to the rider with the broken one. The judge said it was extremely kind of Ben and allowed it. So the strap was replaced and the two riders lined up again with Ben placed the same distance ahead as John was when the strap snapped.👍
Meanwhile, MY very rude impatient opponent began swearing and complaining. The judge told him if he didn't shut up he would give us the race. He shut up.
Ben and Rory (his horse) were off! They easily held onto their lead as my vile opponent screamed at Ben's opponent to whip his horse. Ben reached me at least three lengths ahead of the opponent then handed off the baton to me as Bashum and I burst into a fast gallop.💥
When the baton was being handed off to my opponent he nearly dropped it. Bashum and I were now a good distance ahead, yet with Bashum being a smaller horse than the opponent's horse, I didn't want to lose any ground. I tapped Bashum on the rump with the reins which was all I needed to do as he knew what to do. He poured it on.🐎💥🐎
We crossed the Finish Line far ahead of the opposing team! Soon all my teammates on their horses were surrounding us as we all hugged and were being cheered.💫🤩💫
It turned out many there were actually hoping we WOULD win!😃
Yet the best part of all of this is the reaction of the Elites for they heard what Ben had done. All of them except the very RUDE one whom they were shunning afterwards came up to us wanting to apologize for the ways they had treated us and to congratulate us!
Meanwhile, MY very rude impatient opponent began swearing and complaining. The judge told him if he didn't shut up he would give us the race. He shut up.
Ben and Rory (his horse) were off! They easily held onto their lead as my vile opponent screamed at Ben's opponent to whip his horse. Ben reached me at least three lengths ahead of the opponent then handed off the baton to me as Bashum and I burst into a fast gallop.💥
When the baton was being handed off to my opponent he nearly dropped it. Bashum and I were now a good distance ahead, yet with Bashum being a smaller horse than the opponent's horse, I didn't want to lose any ground. I tapped Bashum on the rump with the reins which was all I needed to do as he knew what to do. He poured it on.🐎💥🐎
We crossed the Finish Line far ahead of the opposing team! Soon all my teammates on their horses were surrounding us as we all hugged and were being cheered.💫🤩💫
It turned out many there were actually hoping we WOULD win!😃
Yet the best part of all of this is the reaction of the Elites for they heard what Ben had done. All of them except the very RUDE one whom they were shunning afterwards came up to us wanting to apologize for the ways they had treated us and to congratulate us!
From that moment on The Superior Attitude they once had vanished and the change was wonderful.💫
Sometimes in this crazy world magic still happens. But you see I have always known this, because horses ARE magic. 💫🐎🤠🐎💫
Sometimes in this crazy world magic still happens. But you see I have always known this, because horses ARE magic. 💫🐎🤠🐎💫
No comments:
Post a Comment