For those of you who don’t know, I wrote a blog a little while ago called “My Best Friend.” The subject of the blog is my horse, Time, who is indeed my best friend. He listens to me, whether he wants to or not, and doesn’t pass judgment.

A couple weeks ago, Time and I participated in a Don Sachey clinic. It was extremely fun, and also very frustrating.

My horse does this thing sometimes, where he locks his neck and basically makes it impossible for me to do anything with him.

It makes me want to stomp my feet and scream. Almost like I’m four years old again.

But that’s beside the point. Riding has always been an escape for me, a time when I don’t have to face the reality that is everyday life. I’ve been riding since I was two, and my dream has always been to go the Olympics with it.

WIth those kind of dreams, it’s hard to escape the pressure that accompanies them.

Last year, I became very distracted by the social aspect of high school. My grades dropped, as did my enthusiasm for riding. I ended the school year determined to quit the sport I have participated in for twelve years.

Over the summer I returned to my trainer back home, and my enthusiasm returned, but not quite at the level that it had been. I still want to take this sport as far as I can, and hopefully make a career out of it, but at the same time there are other opportunities I am interested in pursuing.

That doesn’t mean I’m done. I’m still going to ride, and take advantage of opportunities. But maybe not all of them. I want to go at my own pace, based on school and where I am at with my horse at that moment.

I want the barn to go back to being the place where I can escape from everything, not having to worry about what show I’m going to next, what clinic I’m going to do, and all those other things. I just want it to be me and the horse, being yelled at by my trainer while going over a challenging jump, pumped through with adrenaline.

To me, that’s perfection.