Just a Lazy Day Afternoon

This post will be brief, as I may have a date with my DVR later and am exhausted from a long but rewarding day at the barn. I took a new route home, foregoing the usual bus ride into Port Authority and choosing instead to grab a car ride with a friend to the 'Jitney,' which is a bus that travels over the GW Bridge and drops you off at the 175th Street Bus Station.

I've heard a lot about this station as a good place to catch rides to various other barns and as a quicker alternative to Port Authority, as it's right across from New Jersey. But I literally expected it to be some small bus station on the bridge or overlooking it- not a full fledged mini Port Authority, with shops, subway connections, etc. What a pleasant surprise! I love how even though I've lived here my entire life, this city never ceases to amaze me or show me new pockets of discoveries.

I've included a few recent photos of Benji, the wonderful and challenging horse I adopted from Helping Hearts Equine Rescue seventeen months ago. He is truly the apple of my eye and has captured a large part of my heart. The fact that I have virtually taught him everything he knows, and to respond to current cues and body language is such a wonder to me. After riding for seventeen years, I can say that no other horse is more pleasurable to ride; I have yet to meet a horse who is as eager to please, curious, intelligent and willing about work and new experiences as Benji is.

I could really digress and go on a long tangent about Benji, but don't feel the need (if anyone has looked at my Facebook page recently, he dominates the majority of my activity and posts). What I also love about having a horse (aside from riding, how much I adore him and training, etc.), is that it creates a wonderful obligation which forced me to revisit how I was living my life.

Sure, I still go out for drinks with friends and to some parties. I also do get massages to help preserve my sanity and tightly wound muscles. But the expectation Benji holds of seeing me as much as possible and spending time with me made me re-evaluate how I spent my time and allocated my money. Priorities change, and I can say without any reserve that Benji's needs come before any other party or occasion. I think it's a healthy way to live life.