Small steps forward to rebuild...

So with the help of my friends Becky Valentine, Shelly Richardson, and others cheering me on I ventured out onto the trails.  My husband listened to my fears and encouraged me not to give up on something I loved so very much.  I was up, I was riding, and I was still very much afraid.
Jack keyed in on my fear and it made him jiggy and over reactive.  I was being so unfair to my horse.  So I decided that I needed to start from the beginning again.  I asked another friend, a talented horse person, Debbie Shrock to help me.  Debbie was Kelley Mills apprentice at Willow Creek Animal Rehab and understood what I was going through.  Debbie helped me learn to communicate in a clear manner with Jack.  She taught me that loving Jack didn't mean I couldn't be firm with him.  Most of all she did not accept the excuses that I tried to make for my failures...she called bull poop and made me suck it up.
Then came the day that I decided that hell or high water I was going to lope Jack.  Debbie rode him first to show me that it was really going to be safe. With my heart in my throat I mounted up and set out on my mission.  Bless Jack's big old appy heart, he knew I was afraid and he kept himself together.  He made me work for that lope, he wanted to make sure when it happened I would be ready.  Together we loped 1/2 the arena, I stopped him, collapsed on his neck and cried my heart out.  We had done it and I was still in the saddle not laying in the dirt.  I got off  and with shaky legs I walked Jack to the fence and unsaddled him.  I was happy, I was relieved, I was proud, and I was grateful.
Little did I know what the future would hold for us the next week....
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR, and DORs don't forget to hug your horses!