Another year and the saga continues. I wish I could say that I finally found a solution or cause to my beloved mare's frustrating behavior. Alas, she is still as maddening as she ever was. However, a new kind of progress is being made, and a new kind of hope is emerging.
Over the past several months I have been taking lessons from an aspiring trainer. Together we have progressed in our respective ways, she as a trainer, I as a rider. I feel very lucky to have her on my team. Of the many things I have and will learn from her perhaps the greatest will not be how to make Holly behave like the quiet hunter I want, but instead how to ride the horse I have at that moment. As my trainer said during our last lesson, Holly is like having 10 horses in one. I never know which horse I'll be riding until I get on. But that is ok, because eventually I will learn how to get the best out of those 10 horses.
