Getting to Know You

As I previously mentioned, there have been some changes in my life recently. Namely, I upended my life in the midwest and moved to the mid-atlantic. I also started riding again.

It was so great to step in a barn again and smell that familiar aroma of horse and hay. Walking down the long aisle hearing the sounds of gentle crunching and the occasional snort was a balm for my stressed-out soul.

See, it was actually about six months after I moved here that I started riding.  It was a whirlwind transition as I started my super-cool-big-kid job about a week after we arrived.  For a long time my cool job kept me from dwelling on the upheaval of relocation. I poured myself into my work (it really is a neat place) and tried not to think about leaving my family behind, my friends behind, how I hated driving in this new town, how nothing was the same anymore...but then work started getting stressful.

Then I started to unravel. It wasn't fun, but it helped me realize that I needed invest myself in things besides my work.  So, I decided to start riding again.

It's been great so far.  I like the barn, the people seem nice and my new instructor is worth every penny I pay and every extra mile I drive.  It's no secret to horse people that horses are often the best therapy.

Each time I've ridden at my new barn I've had a different horse.  First there was the cranky and slow one, then a hot one who hated having his ears touched and had to be bridled in a unique way, then a sweet green one, then a non-steering draft cross and so on.

As I was cooling one of the horses out after a lesson one time, I sighed.  I suddenly realized I missed the familiarity of the horses I left behind.  The ones whose personality quirks I already knew. Doesn't stop, hates left turns, doesn't like the short distances etc. Having to go through the awkward getting-to-know-you stages all over again  made me homesick.  Then it hit me that this was a bigger metaphor for my new life.

I left my friends behind and now I had to go through the act of making friends all over again. Worse, there was a different set of cultural norms in this place and I felt like I was always running afoul of them. I missed the familiarity of my old life. Everything from my family and friends down to little stupid stuff like restaurants and the gardening store I used to frequent.

I still miss my old home and my old life.  I'm still having a little trouble making friends, but it is getting easier.  Even if the horses are different and have a whole host of quirks that need to be learned, the ritual of brushing, tacking up, riding, untacking, brushing is a therapy that's familiar and most welcome.