SOMETIMES BEING LATE IS RIGHT ON TIME

All my days are entered on a calendar with times and people so I can keep things running smoothly (at least I think I can).

Today (May 5) was to begin with Savannah coming at 9:00 then a new rider coming from ENMRSH with her caregiver at 10:30.

Savannah was running about 20 minutes late due to truck trouble. I figured we could still make things work and be done 10 minutes before the rider was due. I had her grab Goober and take her in bareback. I had to laugh when I looked at Savannah’s face – she wasn’t expecting bareback. (Everything went just fine although it has been a few months since Savannah has been on bareback and much longer since Goober was ridden bareback.) We were working and a car drove in at about 9:40. This was my 10:30 appointment. The lady said she wanted to make sure she could find the place and she knew she was early.

She got her client out and put her wheelchair in the shade of Savannah’s pickup. From my experience with Special Olympics, I know that people with physical disabilities sometimes have problems with the heat. I got off my horse and began to prep for the new rider. I told Savannah to keep going until I got Shorty ready then I wanted her to put Goober away and help get our rider up.

I brought Shorty over to where my rider was waiting to let them say ‘hi’. She leaned forward and touched his nose with her head. (No camera - darn) All systems looked pretty good to go. I took Shorty to the arena to tie him while I brought a helmet down for the rider. At this time I asked Savannah to drop Goober in her pen and come help me.
I guessed the correct size in helmet; however, this was something the rider did not want any part of. We did get it on her and got her to the arena and on to the mounting ramp.

I digress – Several years ago a gentleman brought his 76 year-old mother to ride. The lady had suffered a stroke which left one side of her body very weak. He felt that she did a little better when she could ride for a short time once a week or so. He had been making this happen at his place and things went well until a young horse he was using bucked her off. That is when he came to me. During their time with me, he built a nice loading stand. It allows two people to stand on it at the same time and makes getting the rider onto the horse quite a lot easier. Anyhow, he kindly left that with me so, Mike Edgeman; it is back in use and thank you.

We took Shorty over to the loading stand and Savannah controlled him while I helped where I could on assisting the rider to mount. We got her up and balanced. Shorty was super tuned in to her and her balance or lack of. As soon as anything started to happen that would compromise her he stopped. He also let us know when it was okay to walk again.
Unfortunately our rider became agitated to the point of needing to get off so the time on the horse was very short. We all put our heads together regarding the agitation and have some ideas to try in the future. I hope it works for her to try again. When she had her head tipped into Shorty’s nose I saw some really powerful energy happening.

So, now to recap on the time management end of this. If Savannah had been on time and the rider been on time the extra pair of helping hands that I needed (although I didn’t know it at the time) would probably not have been here. Assuming the rider’s assistant and I would have gotten the rider on the horse she would have been in a much more unsafe situation than with the three of us attending. I am so glad that the BIG BOSS always knows what is happening and makes sure (if I listen) that I am prepared. Things don’t always work as I planned or even would like but they seem to work as they should.