Mirror, Mirror on the Wall....

Who's the fairest of them all? Well, apparently Gem is.....at least at my stables. :-)

I admit that when I am grooming him, my heart will sometimes skip a beat at how handsome he is. I compare him to the other horses at the stables and love his uniqueness. I think he knows he is different. He has a confident attitude. He loves being groomed (thank goodness!) and he usually stands tall while I brush him, willing other humans and horses in the barn to look his way.

Gem: Look over here. See how handsome I am?
Me: They have heard it before. Kinda getting old.
Gem: But, they should come over and admire me. I am, after all, magnificent.
Me: It's not all about you, Gem.
Gem: It's not!? What the heck?! I believe you are mistaken.

Sure enough, someone will eventually come down to the back of the barn and say hi, admire him and give him compliments. I swear he gives me that "I told you" look. Hmmm...perhaps Gem has some sort of hypnotic power of suggestion over humans.....

My riding "outfits" are colour coordinated. Fortunately, we are both dark haired, so what looks good on me will look good on Gem. ;-) His saddle blankets are coordinated and complimentary to the saddle and bridle. When we are in lesson or out on the trail, we look good! I mean, really, you have to be responsible to your public, right? You just never know now a days when someone will snap your picture. OK....have I gone mad?? :-)

Personally, Gem's hypnotic powers took hold of me the first time I saw him. His good looks have a drawback though. My classmate, CA, pointed out to me a couple of weeks ago that when I am loping Gem, I sometimes watch him and not necessarily where I am going! A couple of close calls with the walls of the arena have proven her to be correct - I was looking at him instead of steering! What?! Could this be why LA is always telling me to look ahead when I am loping??? !

After CA mentioned this to me, I realized that she is right! Yes, I do watch him. As we lope, I watch his long black mane flowing behind him sometimes brushing the back of my fingers, the rhythm of his shoulders and his strong legs out in front of him. I feel his power. I am mesmerized by his beauty! I am transported to my childhood dream for that brief few seconds; I am riding my big Black Beauty.

CA and I ride on Sundays. I have been practicing loping the last few times we have been out. There have been a few occasions where my steering has not been so great and she has asked "Were you looking at him? I think you looking at his flowing mane!" Probably guilty as charged. Must...learn...to....stop....looking....at....him. Must....stop....

Now that my loping confidence is better, LA is working on fine-tuning my hands, steering and seat. I suspect if Gem's beauty continues to dazzle me , learning how to steer and sit properly in the saddle at a lope may take a while. But, I am sort of OK with that if it means reliving my childhood fantasy, even if it's only for a few seconds. I just hope I can come out of this with the walls of the arena intact. :-)

What was I thinking....