Riding My Dragon

July 11, 2023 

It’s a good thing that the weather on Haida Gwaii has been cool enough for some people to think of it as being cold. Because today Punkin Pie was hotter than Hades on a Sunday afternoon in August. 

The last time I rode her was close to a month ago and that ride had been part of a trifecta of misfortune that had led to a week-long migraine. After that came a visit off-island with family for my grandfather's 90th birthday, then the necessary time to recover both in my home life and professionally.  

Life in the clinic has been a test of passion and endurance these past few months and thankfully the more work my endurance the stronger I get and the more I can endure. The more I can endure the stronger I can feel my passion fill my soul. 

Tonight though I have reclaimed my nights. I love the nights. And nights on Haida Gwaii in July are light into late hours making the perfect time to ride. 

I tacked up Punky at 8:00 and headed down to the arena while tonka screamed in protest. It was technically his turn but I really wanted to get out and ride my dream horse. The dream horse that was bred special just for me. 

Knowing better than to just get on and go I asked her to do a few circles in the arena on the lunge line. 

Trot, trot, troooooo BUCK!!!

And just like that I knew tonight was going to be a bit of an adventure. 

The excitement stirred inside me. There was a time that I would have been afraid to get on but I work hard for nights like this. 

She continued to buck and snort and jump obstacles in the arena. Her jumping was starting to look less awkward and possibly even rideable. That could be fun , I thought to myself and tucked the thought away to save for later when my passion might need a little fuel to get me through the next big push of life. 

Punky had bucked herself out and dropped her head to the ground and started to relax. This was her signal to me that she was ready to go.

And off we went.

She left the drive driveway fire breathing dragon chasing the hobbits away from her gold. 

It’s okay, I told myself, we’re fine, everything is fine. For moment I wondered if we really were but she seemed to be doing okay and I let her ride it out. After all I like going fast and she was running away with me she was just really excited to get out of the gate and get going. 

A few driveways down the road she started to relax, then it happened. 

There’s only 3 other horses in town and one of them came running down his pasture to see what was going on. The thick salmon berry bushes had hidden him and we had no idea he was coming to greet us until he was right there. 

Punky flew sideways and my body being slower at moving sideways and having less notice about moving sideways left there like a cartoon suspended in the air with only a fraction of a second to think. 

Crap I might fa…

I didn’t even have time to finish the thought and my muscles snapped into action on their own. For the past two years I have been working on developing the right fitness routine for me and my lifestyle and tonight it did not disappoint. 

My legs remained soft enough to prevent the hot blooded mare from continuing her lateral outburst while my core and my arms coordinated themselves amongst the chaos and kept my already broken enough body from hitting the ground. 

It took a moment to regroup and there was a little conversation about pace but not even a minute later Punkin was walking on a loose rein and I was having a grand old time feeling safe on my fire breathing dragon. 

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