It’s been a couple of months since my last blog…I knew if I waited long enough, Jac or Charlie would do something to warrant another blog addition! Jac wins the prize! Jarvis always says that Jac’s lucky to have me, but sometimes I think it may be the other way around…Jac seems to keep teaching me more about life than he does about reining (hopefully the latter will continue to come together, too, as we move through the show season)!
I was out of town last week, so I was dying to ride Saturday (my first day off since I got back home). Jarvis and/or Tyler rides him on Fridays as a tune up for me since I always ride on Saturdays, and Jac is usually good, but last Saturday, Jac was AMAZING! He was focused, tuned, circling well, turning fast and smooth and stopping like a pro. I almost thought I’d gotten on the wrong horse! Have I made my point that he was AWESOME? So, I decided to give him a mental break and take him for a hack…let him be a horse for a few minutes…put his feet on the grass…feel the fresh air in his mane (this is a concept very familiar to eventers, so I know my eventing friends are nodding in agreement). My work routine for ALL of my event horses included a hack as a reward for good work. So, off I went on Jac into the great grassy yonder that is the entrance to Green Valley Ranch. 
Jac quickly reminded me that hacking is NOT a familiar concept to him. He put his feet on the grass and felt the breeze in his mane for about 30 seconds…just long enough for me to take a deep breath (and an obligatory FB picture - see above). Then, all hell broke loose. He caught sight of something (or nothing) and blew up like a four legged ginger bomb (see photo to the left). I’m not sure how I stayed on his back (other than sheer luck and 30 years riding experience). All I know is that it involved some spinning, bucking and bolting, and within about a quarter second, I was probably 200 feet away from where we started (and Jac was breathing like he just ran the Kentucky Derby). The worst part, his eyes were still wide open and he was waiting on that invisible monster to attack us again. (By this point, I’m having déjà-vu of him being afraid of the sprinklers when I first bought him. (See 1000 pound toddler blog post from 2011). I’ll give Jac two things: (1) there is nothing wrong with his instinctual flight-response and (2) SO FAR, he’s always taken me with him on his escapes. I hate to admit that as I got off (ok – not the best horsemanship move, but I need my head for work), I might have shed a couple of tears wondering why he has to do these things and scare me sometimes, why he can’t just be perfect - a horse that loves to show and loves to just be ridden around. Then I realized that he’s mine for a reason, I love him despite his faults, and maybe it’s not the right time for THAT horse to come into my life.
A wise friend (thanks, Amy!) told me a story last week that’s really been sitting on my heart as I look at everything in my life. (I love people with grateful hearts and she’s one of those people). The gist of her story is that God’s plan for our lives is like baking a cake… some of the ingredients, alone, are pretty yucky, but God blends all those things together for the best possible story! However, he doesn’t always give us the whole cake at one time…sometimes we just get a cupcake. And, we just need to stick a candle in it, enjoy, and feel blessed!
Saturday evening, I was watching an episode of “Inside Reining” that I’d recorded and saw a segment on Whizard Jac (for my non-horsey/reining friends, he was a VERY famous reining horse AND a full sister to Jac’s momma…which I guess in human terms makes him Jac’s uncle). Conformation speaking, Jac is the spitting image of Whizard Jac. Then, I remembered the little spot on the top of Jac’s tail that’s his daddy’s calling card (Jac’s sire, Smart Chic Olena is also a VERY famous reining sire).
Then, I realized that I should be SO GRATEFUL for Jac, no matter what, because HE IS MY CUPCAKE. I knew the switch from eventing to reining would be hard, but I knew it was the right thing for me and my family. And, then, in perfect time, God found a WONDERFUL home for my big sweet Dually and within a week, put a beautiful, kind, healthy, sound, royally bred, and show-ready reining horse in my life (and he even fit into my *meager* budget). I’m not ready for the full cake yet. Jarvis says that everyone screws up their first reining horse…I know I'm no exception, so I’m glad to have Jac who seems to put up with me (we've even had a couple respectable outings this season)!
So, “CUPCAKE” and I will be heading off to show again in a couple of weeks (maybe I’ll finally mark that 70 I’ve been after!)…he’s even toting Charlie around in a leadline class, which is icing on the cupcake. (pun intended). J
