The Twins

My month without a horse

Emma Simmons

(9/2020) I always wanted to ride horses. I think I’ve always loved horses. My Mom loves horses. She says that her Dad, my Grandfather, loved horses too. So I think I was born loving horses.

When I was very young I played with stuffed horses and I rode a rocking horses when I learned to sit up by myself. When I learned to walk I graduate to stick horses.

But it was never enough for me. I knew ‘real’ horses were out there somewhere. For the next few years, I got to ride horses every once in a while, when we went to visit one of my uncles and at a friend’s birthday party. But that still wasn’t enough for me. I thought about horses almost all the time. Then it finally happened. My sister and I were at our school science fair and we were wearing our ‘just a girl who loves horses’ shirts. One of the judges came up to us and our parents and said he and his wife had a farm with horses. He invited us to visit and ride. I can’t tell you how happy I was. Since I was at school I just smiled, but inside I was jumping up and down and screaming with joy.

That’s how we met Mike. For the past year, Sarah and I have been in heaven riding at Mike’s horse farm. His horses are the absolute best horses in the world. They are handsome thoroughbreds that are strong and fast. We have learned so much from Mike about horses. Not just how to ride, but how to care for them.

No matter what the weather has been this past year, I always loved riding. During the winter when it was so cold that there were icicles hanging off the barn roof, I rode. This summer on days that it was so hot and humid that steam floated around in the air, I rode. When it rained cats and dogs and I was dripping wet, I rode. I just love riding. When I’m not riding, I’m thinking about riding. When I’m riding, I am as happy as a horse munching on tall green grass.

But then it happened. I don’t really remember how it began, but about a month ago, things began to go wrong…very wrong. First it was Wesley, then Kit, then me, then Sarah.

It began when Wesley hurt his hoof. I couldn’t ride him. Mike said it would be at least of couple days for him to heal. But when he didn’t, Mike called the Vet out, who diagnosed Wesley with Cushing’s disease. Mike told me it would take a month or two before I would be able to ride Wesley again, but I had Kit as a backup horse. Big sigh of relief that Mike has more than one horse. Then, Kit hurt his back and I couldn’t ride him. So both Wesley and Kit were on the disabled list (DL). So for those weeks, Sarah and I went over to the farm and helped take care of the horses. We learned how to give them medicine and care for their injuries.

After a couple of weeks with no riding, Wesley was beginning to get better. I was so happy he was getting well because it’s really hard to see someone that you love feeling bad. And yes, it also meant that I could ride again. But just as it was time to put Wesley back in the arena, he developed an abscess on his hoof. So he was back on DL. Mike worked with his vet and the blacksmith to help clear up the sore on Wesley’s hoof. But that took another week or so. Again, no riding.

At this point, I missed riding so much that I began to think about digging out my stick horses. Let’s face it, even a stuffed horse on a stick is better than no horse. I even thought about drawing a big horse head and attaching it to the handle bars of my bike. I was desperate.

Sarah and I continued to go over to Mike’s farm to help with the horses. I have to say, even though we weren’t riding, it was interesting to learn more about horse anatomy and the things vets do to help horses recover from injuries. Sarah and I want to become vets when we are older and open a veterinary practice together.

Finally, Wesley and Kit were both sound. Mike told my Mom that we could ride again and for us to come over on the weekend. Joy, joy, joy. A few days later, my Dad took Sarah and me bike riding. While bike riding isn’t as much fun as horseback riding, it’s better than nothing. I was getting tired of YouTube Kids.

It was a pretty sunny day and we where we were bike riding was mostly flat. But there was one big hill. Trying to ride my bike up the hill is kind of hard. But zooming down is super fun. It makes the uphill climb worth the work. It was getting time to go home, but I wanted to make one more downhill run. I remember being at the top of the hill and looking down. I was going to go so fast and it would be so fun. It would be like riding a horse again. I made it almost to the bottom of the hill. But I guess I was going too fast. I remember hitting the blacktop with my knee and hand and then sliding. My Dad said I slid about four feet. I didn’t want him or Sarah to think I was hurt so I jumped up and said I was fine. But Sarah pointed to my knee and said I was bleeding. I looked at my hand and then my knee and sure enough, there as blood on my hand and blood streaming down my leg to my shoe. Well, I guess I wasn’t completely ok. I made it back home and my Mom bandaged my cuts and scrapes. Luckily, nothing was broken. So glad I was wearing a helmet.

Now, I was on the disabled list. I couldn’t go horseback riding that weekend. I can’t tell you how bad I felt. Not only did my knee and hand hurt, but my heart hurt too. I wanted to ride so much. I had been waiting for so long.

My Mom says I’m a quick healer and by the next weekend I could ride again. I could hardly wait. It seemed like it had been forever since I been horseback riding. But now everyone was healthy and we could get back to having some serious fun. Rights? Wrong.

Sarah and I love swimming. Not as much as horseback riding, but we really like the water. We swim, we dive, we race, and of course we play horse games in the pool. A couple of days before we were suppose to ride, we were playing a game in the pool seeing who could be the most graceful and talented dolphin. Well, when it was Sarah’s turn, she was amazingly graceful under the water, but when she did her dolphin jump out of the water she landed on the side of the pool, face first. She said she was fine, just like I did when I fell off my bike, but her lip was swollen and her mouth was bleeding some. Luckily, she still has all of her teeth, but our Mom placed her on the disabled list for a few days. No riding…again!

Like me, Sarah heals quickly so it wasn’t long before we could think about riding. It seemed like it had been forever since we had been on a horse. When it was finally time to actually go to Mike’s farm, Sarah and I were so excited. We put on our best riding clothes. We shined our boots and cleaned our chaps. We got our riding vests and helmets out of storage and dusted them off (it had been a while since we had ridden). We put ice water in our drinking bottles. And then we piled everything into the car. We were off to the farm!

My Dad has a phrase he uses sometimes: "the best laid plans." I’ve never been completely sure what that meant until now. When we got to Mike’s he gave us the bad news. Wesley’s hoof was acting up again. He said we could ‘walk’ Wesley around the arena, but no cantering or even trotting. Walking a horse can be lots of fun. Right? Well, maybe not lots of fun, but better than nothing. At this point, I was beginning to wonder if I would ever get to ride a horse again.

We eventually did get to ride and when we did it was like riding for the first time. I had almost forgotten how much fun it is to be on a horse in an open field, to trot and canter beside sister. The horses are all doing well now and Sarah and I are staying healthy too. But I’ll always remember what Mike told me. This is all part of having horses and just part of life in general. Things happen. You have to be patient and try to learn some things along the way.