not unlike my red beater Suzuki. She had two chow dogs in the back. One was a rescue and the other a service dog.
I gave her a tour of our place – I told her that we generally do one of three tours, the horse tour, the garden tour, or the solar energy tour and that I was of course giving her the horse tour. It was by now raining harder, a heavy drizzle. Nikki was wearing cotton clothing, so I made the tour quick – we headed inside and had lunch. I felt like it was an interview situation, me sizing her up as a perspective riding student.
Nikki has a lot to say and has had an interesting past. Nevertheless, I liked her and that we shared a mutual love of horses. And the subsequent lesson went extremely well. Tinni – what a horse. I let him out of the pen and he went right to the hitching post and ate lunch. He stood quietly as we groomed him, tacked him up, and put on his boots. And he was the ultimate riding horse out on the loop. As in the past, he looked to me for instruction – but this enabled Nikki to focus on the use of given images. I called it “the Centered Riding Sampler,” because it encompassed Sally Swift’s four basics. I at one point had her close her eyes and feel the horse’s movement. She well understood Swift’s concept of following seat, which was very impressive, given that the rider has to have a seat before this can be understood.
I was pleased, and Nikki was pleased at the lesson’s end. We untacked Tinni and he walked back into his enclosure and resumed eating his late morning breakfast.
I think I am most pleased about the fact that Tinni, age 30, had it affirmed that he does have a purpose here. Terri and Sarah both did an excellent job caring for him, but I think the heat, the smoke, and the unfamiliar surroundings did stress him out some. Now all is right in his world. And no one is happier about this than I am.
Next: 256.
9/16/19: A Discussion with Tinniabout the Meaning of Life |