In which we attend a Heavenly endurance ride (and invite YOU!)
 |
| 50 miles, not quite 3 months post-surgery. Yes, I am crazy. But happy! |
Okay, so maybe I was actually talking to Patty. But Fiddle has a way of contributing to conversations about really great rides. Imagine that.
Anyhow, as one does, somehow we got to talking about the endurance rides they must hold in Heaven.
And I got to wondering what those rides would be like for all y'all.
So, I figured I'd ask. Here's the gig:
Everybody is dead, and everybody went to Heaven.
As we all come through the gate, Saint Peter hands us the welcome packet with a free water bottle, a coupon for beginning harp lessons, and a ride flyer for the endurance ride to be held in the morning.
Faithful Readers, please share.
* Who will you see when you get to ridecamp?
 |
| Since we're in Heaven, you can meet up with anybody there, living or dead, or even fictional! These flags mark the camp where I want to be. |
* What will the trails be like? Will they remind you of a trail you loved on Earth, or a trail you never got to ride while you were alive? Or both?
 |
| Fiddle chooses: soft footing, plenty of water, blue sky overhead |
* Who is your Heavenly Vet Dream Team?
 | |
| Mike Foss is the first ride vet I ever met--and he's on my Vet Dream Team. I also include two other vets who were at Klickitat last weekend: Dr. Jenn and Mike VanZwol. |
* Who will crew for you?
 | |
| My Klickitat crew: Crystal, Sirie and Patty. In Heaven, they'll be riding and Jerry Pulju will crew for all of us. |
* Will you ride alone, or do you have a ride partner picked out in Heaven?
 |
| Julie Suhr? Genghis Khan? You can have whoever you want alongside. I choose Santa Jim and Madeline. |
* How far will you ride on your Heavenly ride? 50 miles? 100? Maybe a multi-day?
And of course...
* What horse will you ride?
 |
| You could choose any horse in the world, but I want to ride the Dragon in Heaven. |
I would ride Blue, because in heaven there is no Cushings.
ReplyDeleteI can get behind this idea. :) It would mean getting to do all of the rides I wanted to and never did with Mimi pre-retirement. Because you don't have to worry about things like tie-ups and metabolic issues in Heaven.
ReplyDeleteI'll crew for y'all, 'cause, even in Heaven, I'm the slowest of turtles, riding my futon...
ReplyDeleteThe thought of seeing the horses I've loved in the past was quite lovely this morning. In Heaven, I get to love on them all, all over again, right?
ReplyDeleteBut, as much as I loved all of them, and I love Muse, my heart belongs to Casey. It would be Case, and a pretty, wooded trail where there are no snakes or wild boar or scary things. Just me and my not-so-cuddly boy who has given me his whole heart.
Will have the most beautiful shiny/bling tack awaiting you all and once you are all fitted and ready to ride I too will board my beautiful Shy Anne and just once her Arab side will dominate and we will fly like the wind through the trees, into the rivers and over the hills and not once will I feel any pain. I will be the ride from heaven. Thanks for inspiring us once again Ms Aarene..
ReplyDeleteI will be riding Jubilee - only he never would have been raced, and he never would have been started way too early (at just shy of 18 months) and never been messed up in his mind- and he'd have that calm, sweet, intelligent brain that he only managed to find about once a month or so.
ReplyDeleteAnd we'd go loping over some slow-rolling desert hills at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountain range - it would be late March after a heavy rain winter, and the ground would be covered with softly rolling grass was just turning yellow. It's just before sunset, and the wind is making it dance in soft patterns.
I'm 20 years old, in great shape, nothing hurts, and my good friends Tony and Travis are riding beside me on their mustangs Coal and Cahlibur.
We'll hit camp right after sunset, and my Grandma and Grandpa will be waiting there with some sweet tea, fried okra, and steak fingers. Thom Cain will be there, with his wife Babe, and he'll share his stories of life before the war, and cowboying in the 50's and the good horses he's raised and ridden.
And as we sit around the campfire someone will bring out a guitar and start playing some good ol' songs - Amarillo by Morning and Pancho and Lefty. Jubilee will be grazing on a leadrope beside me, stopping occasionally to nibble at my shoelaces, and the night sky will be filled with a thousand desert stars.
And I know that's not a real endurance ride, but that's going to be my first ride once I get to heaven.
I'd have to ride with my grandma. She taught me to ride and was about the best grandma a girl could have. She died of bone marrow cancer just after Bunny and I did our first LD, in 2012. She loved horses and was so proud of Bunny and I.
ReplyDeleteI want to ride a 100 with her and I'll let her ride Bunny. I can just see the smile on her face when she rides Bunny's big trot. Guess I'll have to find a horse to keep up :)
Oh boy! I love everyone's heaven rides. Very fun, Aarene! I'd be riding the big liver chestnut QH. And he'd be young and know what endurance rides are, so we don't burn out the nitrogen tanks all at once. RIDE WITH ANYONE? Why you, of course, and the usual suspects (mine and yours). I'm thinking Abe Lincoln, Mary Oliver, Xenophon, my grandma, Bucephelus, and the kids would be fun to have along...?
ReplyDeleteHudson wants to change the endurance rules in heaven, so he can boss at least one steer for 50 miles. (He remains unconvinced he's a dressage horse, despite his excellent passage on the trail)
I'm definitely bringing cake, horse cookies, and massage therapists for everyone!