My first thought was �Ziggy wouldn�t have done that�. My second thought was �What in your past has made you this way?�
Poor Rio; as my personal horse, she lives in Ziggy�s shadow. I know Rio is an individual, and she has her own strengths, and weaknesses, but it is hard not to compare her to past horses in my life, particularly to Ziggy.
Like Ziggy, Rio was a mare I liked for a long time, but when I first met her, she was way out of my price range, and I could not legitimize even thinking of buying her. Over a year after our first meeting I had the opportunity to buy Rio at a price I could afford. Not that I needed another horse, or even had time for another horse, but since loosing Ziggy, I have missed that special bond and the excitement I had each morning going to see Zig, and I could see the potential for a similar joy in Rio.
I don�t think anyone realizes how much I still miss Ziggy. I still wish I could turn back the clock and change the course of events that cost my grey mare her life. It wasn�t so much her looks or her ability. I just liked the HORSE. I respected her mind and had for whatever reason I had endless patience for her. She made me get to know her so that I could get even the simplest things done with her.
The problem is, I forgot how much time, effort, and work I put into my bond with Ziggy. I guess my brain figured if I had that strong a bond once it would be easily transferable to a new horse; for me it was easy to feel strongly about Rio, but she had no reason to have the trust in me that Ziggy had.
I shouldn�t be comparing Rio to Ziggy, I should be comparing MY strategy with Ziggy to how I went about getting to know Rio. It�s not Rio that comes up short. It�s me.
Karen