Today I thought some about Raudi, and her being a spirit horse and what this means for us both. A spirit animal is one who guides you on a journey, and you go places and do things you previously thought unimaginable.

Raudi is such a horse. I will say at the offset that I really need to keep this in mind when working with Tyra. Tyra would not be the horse she is if I had not first acquired Raudi. Raudi taught me what I know. And I have drawn upon this knowledge in teaching Tyra. I must keep this in mind because I don’t want Raudi to feel like she is playing second fiddle to Tyra. This would then be a form of betrayal.

All the events that occurred today are also Raudi’s doing. Acquiring her opened so many doors – and they continue to open. We would not have done our two longer rides. We would not have contacted Filipe, who is preparing to do his long ride. We would not be involved in the BCHA. We most definitely would not have met the horse people we care so much about. Today we took Filipe and Clara to meet some of the BCHA people who were going for a trail ride. And I had Dick Stoffel bring Jokla, who Filipe rode. And Clara, his partner, rode Francine’s horse.

I watched as Felipe mounted up and Jokla, a mid-sized compact Icelandic pinto, took off like a rocket, at a fast told. Felipe did an excellent job of moving with her. It was as if Jokla was saying “oh boy, we are going on an adventure. Let’s go!”

Well, Felipe was a very good sport about it, but Jokla did not behave. She didn’t behave because she could not. She had no idea of how to go about it. She was all over the place, and at the same time, she wanted to stay with her buddy, Yukon.

I feel bad about this because I think that Jokla is also a spirit horse. The problem is, she has not yet found her soul mate. I very well could be that person, but I have Raudi and three others to care for. We just don’t have the room.

I said yesterday that last night Felipe said that in order for dreams to come true that you need to first articulate them. My dream is to have a place with a large pasture – what comes to mind is the property that our friend Dorothy owns. There must be other places around like it. If I had such a place, I would be able to have four plus one.

I did have the dream of doing a long ride. I still hope sometime to ride 1000 miles unsupported. But I have done two trips and now will do a third. And next summer, if all goes well for Felipe and Clara, I might join him on the last leg of his trip. And of course, I will ride Raudi, the horse that brought this about in the first place.

Next: 123. 5/5/19: Gear(ing) Up