Two days before surgery I drove to the field and filled the feed bin, for who knows when I'll next be ready to carry a heavy sack?
Brena ate her dinner, seeming to enjoy the taste with seaweed extract supplement that promotes hoof growth, and accepted me stroking her face and neck. I pulled a couple of tangles out of her mane too.
And then she decided to wander off, walking all the way to the far end of the field where she began to graze oblivious to human activity.
It's as if Brena was telling me to go away and get healed. Having shared a reassuring moment of affection her mesage was that she will do just fine whilst I'm allowing my needs to be taken care of.
The days when I rode because I had to, irrespective of pain or disconfort, are over. They finished three years ago. Now riding should be a matter of pleasure.
There is a role for that traditional stubbornness. It's useful at work and will help drive me through the healing process. It got me through Brena's process of adjustment in the spring when a part of my mind doubted. But riding when something hurts, continuing beyond pleasure or satisfaction, that is questionable.
Anyway, the next days and weeks will require a certain stubborn perseverence. I'll try and temper it with a little common sense.
I hope your surgery went well! Sending good thoughts your way.
Posted by: funder | August 24, 2011 at 05:43 PM