the world according to

In honor of what would have been Charlie’s Sweet 16 tomorrow, I’ve been thinking a lot about how much he taught me. 

lessons from charlie: face hugs are best hugs <3

After the better part of a decade with the world’s best brontosaurus (not to mention drawing paychecks from various barn mgmt jobs for 15 years before that…), I was pretty sure I Had Horses Figured Out. 

charlie reinforced that curry = life
also, wow the shedding volume remains intense

And, well….. maybe that’s just the plight of your typical one-horse adult amateur. What I thought were deep truths in horse keeping and training were maybe just…. Deep Truths About Charlie. 

I’ve written chapter and verse of the Book of Charles on ye olde blogge, but now here we are in a new place, new time, and with a different leading lady who — shocker — is a very different type.

doozy thinks the tractor is fine. the bunnies that live in the shrubs tho? less fine
charlie liked tractors too <3

But ya know. When I step back and think more about the big picture, the journey, the purpose of it all… There are some pretty important truths from dear Sir Charles that continue to guide me in my decision making and approach to Doozy. 

He remains my beacon of wisdom <3

patient biscuit!!

You might remember the trials and tribulations from Doozy’s early days… her failed 30 day performance review and a probationary period that wasn’t immediately convincing about her longterm prospects as my riding horse. 

And that was after just 30 (thirty) days! You would be forgiven for wondering (passively or otherwise) why I haven’t injected any of that same prior pessimism again now, after a whole 3 months (!!) of similarly uncertain turbulence.

charlie loved planting his nose on a friendly butt to zone out for peaceful hacks. doozy is still learning to be polite about following, but she’s getting better <3

Again, tho, if there’s one thing Charlie taught me, it’s patience. Gray areas from Doozy’s probationary period — would she be sound? would she even like eventing?? — came into sharp focus last year. Doozy loves eventing* and was remarkably sound before this winter.** 

(*obligatory “excluding dressage,” lol except I’m honestly excited about our work there too!!)

(**ymmv but around here basically EVERYBODY agrees that this winter was particularly atrocious)

trees are blossoming!!!! the season of renewal is upon is

Charlie’s first few years with me were characterized almost entirely by this weird anxious urgency in my approach. I could see so clearly how capable he was, wanted so badly to be where I had gotten with Isabel, and experienced every setback (and oh lawd, did we have setbacks!) like an existential shock.

And looking back on all that… Well. While I believe with all my heart that I loved the shit out of that horse and never lost sight of how lucky I was to call him mine… It’s also clear to me that I robbed my own self of joy, satisfaction, and downright pure unadulterated glee in being so preoccupied with where I wanted to go, that I couldn’t appreciate where we were in some pretty special moments. 

my sweet wild child. everything is so different, but thanks to lessons from charlie, i’m feeling excited and peaceful about the future <3

Charlie’s final lesson to me, of course, was that we don’t in fact have all the time in the world. His riding career ended long before I quite realized it. And while I’m grateful that he got a properly pampered retirement, that too was far shorter than I ever expected.

But it’s not the moments of glory, the blue ribbons or the big jumps that keep his memory alive to me. It’s those same moments of joy, satisfaction, and deep appreciation — often from the quietest days together, or from those rides where everything felt present and connected and flowing… Those are the memories that stay with me. 

And those are the same memories that guide me in persevering through bumpy times with this sweet red mare who is proving to actually be an incredibly cool horse, one who will undoubtedly teach me a whole new education. The World According To Mondeuse. Should we all be so lucky, of course!