Wild Jim

Tonight I went out to see my Jim and he was SOOO needy! When he saw me walk up to the barn he came in from his limestone pen and met me at the door of his stall. He nickered so excitedly that he whinnied a little. I love when he does that :-)

I groomed him, put him on a lunge line, and took him into the arena. I could tell he was very wound up, so I knew it was time to just bring him into the arena and with the containment of the line, let him play at least a little. Jimmy's the type who will practically kill you if he is wound up and sees something that scares or excites him, so recovery or not I knew it was time to let him P-L-A-Y a little tiny bit.

A little tiny bit turned into a hot mess, and quickly. I hoped since he was looking so good last week today he'd only look better. Thank GOD I was right!!! He once again took advantage of the ground rails in the ring and before I could contain him on the line, he was leaping at least 3'6" over them, kicking his hind end on his arc, and landing in a beautiful, compact little ball, cantering off round, bucking a little, and executing flawless lead changes every time. Excuse me, while I pick my jaw up off the ground. I drooled at him for a while, then realized "Oh, stupid Jess!! Recovering horse. Time to calm him down." So I brought him down to the soft end of the arena and he noticeably calmed down. I tried to take a video of him being good.... Man does he have my number! He looked at me cute, trotted off nicely, then pulled, rooted, and bucked so hard, he ripped the line out of my hand. THANK GOODNESS I GOT IT ON TAPE! Haha.

He took off running and galloped as fast and as hard as I've ever seen him go - three full times around the arena. Whoops. I bent over the whole time as his "call to come" and after the third flying lap, he gracefully circled himself in, turned to face me, and stopped, staring at me. "Hey Mom! Did you see THAT?!" was the look all over his face. Oh my gosh if I didn't love this horse so darn much I would have been so mad. The rope burn, the terror from watching as he tore himself around the arena, the thought of "Oh my gosh, this could be the end right now. One stumble and he's done...." faded away when he came right up to me. He was just so proud and happy to have some play time I couldn't possibly hold a grudge.

After that he trotted wonderfully and I DID get it on video. Tell me what you think.





I sat at his open stall for the next 30 minutes and he sniffed my hair. We just chatted and hung out, he was happy to have me and I was happy to have him. It was something we haven't done in a while and it was refreshing for us both.

From watching how beautifully he uses himself in every aspect of his "play" time - jumping the ground rails, galloping around, bucking, trotting with every ounce of himself....I just can't help but believe with all of my being that he will make a full recovery. I believe he will come back, I believe he will perform for me again, I believe he will be the champion I've always known he can be. I love this horse beyond words. His spirit is my inspiration.