How proud I am

What a difference a year 6 years make!
My lovely, but flighty boy Tika is growing up, at last. I can't even begin to describe the differences in that beautiful horse. And, I cannot possibly put into words how hugely proud I am of him.

A couple of months ago, we attended a 'bomb proofing' clinic. Whew. If he had done half of what he did, I would have been happy. But, he completely blew me away. One needs to remember, that this was a horse who would jump at the slightest noise, BOLT on a trail ride because there was a bucket (musta been the horse eating kind) left by the side of the trail, a horse that would try to climb walls in a stall to escape, a horse that scared the living daylight out of me at times.

At this clinic, he walked past, and then over balloons. He merely flinched when the horse in front of us popped one. He walked over tarps and mattresses. He walked through a pile of plastic bottles. He walked next to a person, first carrying an umbrella, then a Canadian flag. He then trusted me enough to carry first the umbella, then the flag from the saddle.

I'll admit that I cried. Briefly. Mostly, I carried a huge grin on my face.