by Vinson » Sun Jun 05, 2016 9:48 am
I've had a rough few hours, honestly...
I ride horses, and have been for almost four years now. I had found a schooling horse I really liked - he was tall enough for my lanky figure, extremely responsive, yet stubborn, a go horse. He was quite honestly my dream horse. I had been riding him once a week for the past few months, up until maybe a month and a half ago. Then my trainer started putting me on different horses, which I didn't mind at all, change is good. But I missed Timmy, the horse I had been riding previously. I finally mustered up the courage to ask about it after getting put on a not-so-nice horse. She said that, because of a difference of opinions, Timmy wasn't allowed to do jumping lessons anymore. I was devastated. She knew I loved that horse, and I knew it wasn't her idea to not allow Timmy to jump. So I went into the office and requested special permission to do a jumping lesson on Timmy. The desk lady said she would try, because she knew I loved him, too, and I went home hopeful. That was two weeks ago. I didn't ride last Saturday, instead riding the Tuesday before that. I went and visited Timmy once I had brought my mount back to his stall. I gave him a little scoop of pellets - he loves them - a few carrots, and a few horse treats. I pet him, rubbed his nose, smiled. I said 'Bye, Timmy!' and had to go home.
So I walk into the office to see who I'm riding today - a new horse named Thor - and I ask one of the desk ladies if maybe I could ride Timmy next week. Her smile immediately dropped. "Timmy's gone," she said, and I barely held myself together. I don't know what I said next, but her response was "Yeah, he left a few days ago." I managed to give her a sad smile and I walked out. I was numb. I choked up, I felt tears coming, but I held them back. They sold him. They sold Timmy.
It didn't make it any better that the horse I rode today, Thor, looked almost exactly like Timmy. Didn't help he was skinny and tall, like Timmy. Didn't help that he had a bouncy trot, that he didn't want to stop, that he plowed through jumps...just like Timmy. I could barely hold myself together. I went and got my water bottle, and I could barely drink, my hands were shaking so much.
To take Thor back to his stall, I had to pass by Timmy's stall. It almost killed me, seeing that empty stall. Seeing the name card that read Timmy. Seeing his neighbor poke his head out of his stall in hope that he would get a carrot or a treat because if I was there, it meant Timmy would be getting something and he wanted it, too. I was shaking when I locked the stall door. I couldn't look at Timmy's stall. I didn't. I got in the car with my mom and my siblings, and, halfway back home, started crying. I managed to reel myself back in, ate lunch when we got home, but as soon as I got in the shower, the tears came back. I let them fall. I needed to get it out. I'm devastated, right now. I don't know how I'm going to live with this...
The last time I saw him was nearly two weeks ago. I'm moving in a week from Thursday, and I knew I was going to have to say goodbye sooner or later. But I didn't think they would have sold him before I left. I didn't think the last time I would have talked to him, let him eat out of the palm of my hand, would have been that Tuesday. I know I told him goodbye, but it wasn't really goodbye. It was a simple goodbye, and I had thought I would have seen him again next week, whether I rode him or not. I would have been able to give him a carrot or two, rub the bases of his ears, give him a hug. I don't know if he'll even remember me, that kind person with the carrots and the treats that tasted like peppermints, who wouldn't dare crop him, who always fit in a currying session even when they didn't have time. I loved that horse...and now he's gone. Timmy's gone, and there's a hole in my heart.
I always had a connection with him. Our bodies would move fluidly together, him being so responsive to the slightest squeeze of my calves, and I would have done anything for that horse. It's like loosing a family member, honestly, and I don't know if I can deal with it.