As some of you may already know from social media, I lost my Arabian gelding, Apollo, in mid-November. He was 20 years old.
Horses are tough, resilient creatures. But, they can be quite fragile, too. Medical issues can escalate rapidly, even with the support of a great team of vets.
Apollo’s passing was unexpected. I am still sad that we didn’t have more time together. However, I have also been reflecting about how much we did do in our five years together.
I recently ran across this old photo of us trotting at liberty together.
We are in the back pasture on a cold winter’s day.
For the first several years after I adopted Apollo, we did zero trotting.
It wasn’t a behavior I could ask for, either on the ground or under saddle.
Apollo had too many poisoned cues and also bodily aches and pains.
Developing a relationship in which we could communicate back-and-forth with each other meant that Apollo was able to tell me when he was ready to trot.
And, when he was ready, away we went!
He was eager and elegant as we trotted all over the pastures.
That first winter of trotting was especially fun for both of us.
To me, this picture captures so many of the lessons that we taught each other.
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