I Have a Nice Horse

I have been faithfully watching, or at least watching in fast forward, the video I record every Sunday morning. While I was watching the video from the Sunday before last, I actually hit pause and then watched it at regular speed. Who was this gorgeous horse and rider? - less emphasis on the rider. It finally hit me that Izzy is becoming a very nice horse.

The horse - very pretty, the rider - not so much.

A year or two back, Barbi Breen- Gurley, a trainer from the coast with whom I rode with at a clinic, reminded me to go of who my horse used to be. For a long time, I referred to him as a green bean long after he was truly broke. For a long time after that, I referred to him as a very difficult horse. Lately, I've taken to referring to Izzy as complicated, but recently, Izzy's chiropractor refuted that moniker and claimed that Izzy's pretty simple: ride him correctly, and he'll perform. 

Of course, believing that is hard to do when you're carrying around eight years worth of bolting, hollowed back, rearing, and spinning memories. This most recent video though showed me a really pretty horse with a lot of talent. Izzy is still not easy, and most likely never will be. That doesn't change the fact that I have a very nice horse that's just not everyone's cup of tea. Neither is Verdades. Remember how many people didn't want him? Laura Graves couldn't give him away way back when.

Each winter I am hopeful that we'll go to that first spring show with the horse I ride at home. We may never get to that point, but I am feeling ever more hopeful about this spring. Izzy is performing downright beautifully for me this past month or two - most of the time. He's still Izzy after all.

So ... no more green bean, difficult, or complicated. Meet my new, nice horse.