15 Seconds of Perfection

One of my favorite things about having the horses at home is being able to sneak out of my house at night and check on them.  Some time after midnight last night, under the cover of a moonless dark sky speckled by stars, I slipped out of my house and to the paddock behind my barn.  For just a moment, I stepped out of the roles of mom, wife and business owner and back into that young girl who dreamed of nothing but horses.  Both the mares were out in the far paddock, closest to the pasture.  Despite the early morning hour on the clock, the temperature was perfect with a small, but consistent breeze making me wish I could sleep out under the starry sky.  In the darkness, I spoke quietly to the horses, who greeted me with softly snorting noses.  I hugged my big mare around the neck and buried my face in her mane.  Somehow, I’m acutely aware that she is 20 this year.  She tolerated my un-requested affection for about 15 seconds, which was long enough to permanently etch this moment in my mind.  As I stood there savoring the feel of her soft coat, the warm breeze on my skin and the starry sky overhead, I tucked away the memory to retrieve when times are not quite so perfect.  At that moment, I was in a state of complete gratitude.  Sometimes, the moments of hard work and a lifetime of luck come together in the showring.  For me, they came together last night in the paddock behind my barn.