I Was Freezing. She Was Grieving. A Pony Ride Connected Us.

I needed a break from the world- from current events, from struggle, to that feeling of being so disconnected from my path.

So I took a walk down memory lane , back to my roots.

I still write and love it.

I still work with Dave in real estate.

And I am of course still going to make my movie.

But also now, a few days a week, I work with horses- caring for them, taking people on trail rides, helping them make memories and experience horses .

It is a physically demanding job, with about 100 horses coming in and out of the barn each day, being tacked up, taken on rides, groomed, fed, loved on, and turned back out at the end of the day.

I thought winter was over when I started.

I was wrong.

New York winter clung on this year, like a starving lion on a wounded gazelle.

Poetically put… it sucked.

Especially on those long hours outdoors, because guests still showed up for rides- even though many regretted the choice as their faces froze off.

And the pony rides for younger guests still took place.

Wranglers rotate pony duty. When my number came up one day, temperatures had plunged, with a deceptively soft wind that would be a welcome breeze on a day when the weather was behaving more like the calendar said it should. But that day, its frigid slice felt somehow even more brutal than if it had been a proper wind.

I was not super pleased about my duty that day. But off I went, me and the small horse who was apparently even less enthused about things than I was.

Until something special happened :

A young mom and her adorable little boy showed up. Mom fought tears as she explained she is trying to make new memories for her kids, since her husband died last year. That she knows horses are therapeutic, and wants her kids around them as much as possible.

I don’t usually blurt out my life. But that morning was different . I let her know I’ve been there too, and we had a sweet, beautiful moment.

She shared her plans to start an equine program for kids in her husband ‘s honor. She gave me a hug.

I believe she will do everything she told me she will.

I was back out on the trails soon enough. Spring finally arrived.

And I still smile when I think about how warm I felt, even when I was freezing that day.

See less