It took me forever to come up with this title. And I also thought that writing this dispatch is going to take a long time. I then took a few Ferris wheel breaths and resigned myself to this very unfortunate situation. As I wrote the sentence about my taking a Ferris wheel breath, I wondered, will my readers know what I’m talking about? Yes, I thought, because yesterday I wrote about the Ferris wheel breath. So those who were not familiar with it would then go back and read the previous day’s dispatch.

This was asking a lot of these readers, but generally I ask a lot of them anyways. They usually have to make several associative leaps when they read what I

Alys setting up the curtin

write. And they must be the sort that enjoy reading meta-narratives. Even Pete, my confidant and editor, and Christopher Benson, my friend and biographer.

Sometimes I do wonder if I will end up being Christopher’s biographer or if he is going to be my biographer. We have now known each other 46 years. Where did the time go? One day we were young and dumb and now we are old and dumb. I don’t know if with this virus going on if we will ever see one another again. I proposed to him that we do a bicycle tour together and I did not hear back from him. Quite often I propose things to him and don’t hear back from him. I guess some of my pie in the sky ideas are not worth responding to.

Pie in the sky, rain in the sky. I arrived at the Saddle Up arena and I glanced at the sky. It was ominous, looked for sure like rain. I then had a choice; I could teach in the darker indoor arena with the good footing and the artificial lighting or in the outdoor arena with the bad footing and the real lighting. I chose the outdoor arena, telling myself, “ya take your chances.”

Teaching riding is a chancy affair, you just never know how it’s going to go. The best laid plans can and will go awry. Then you have to go and catch them. As it turned out, I did catch these plans. I first worked with Judy Hayes and Ezmee, the mule – she is a new student, so Judy and I talked and talked and talked, about her past history with Ezmee, and about how she perceives the world. Then, together, we did some obstacle work. After, we did the same with Ezmee.

The lesson went by fast – soon enough, Amy and Jessica appeared, and I went over Ferris wheel breathing first, and then ideas of let’s and insist and the differences between the two. Judy watched for a bit and then joined us for the ground obstacle work. We rightly figured that next time, she will ride and I will instruct. I’d much rather call it facilitate.

As I facilitated, my friend Terri appeared, and she attempted to show us videos of horses that she’s considering purchasing. Then it was back to work with Amy focusing on getting her horse to go through obstacles and Jessica working on trotting going over poles.

All the while, the rain held off. In fact, the sun finally came out and it warmed up. And I thought, how lucky I am, to be working alongside with such fine individuals. It indeed felt magical.

And before I knew it, I had written this dispatch. My later worry, that I might not get around to writing about this wonderful day, then fell like rain, by the wayside.

Next: 220. 8/10/20: Dog and Pony Show Agility: Cross-Over