During most of my years living in Pennsylvania, there was snow on Christmas. However, the year I was 14 there had been no snow by the holiday season. That year the temperature as 68 degrees on Christmas Day in Philadelphia.
When you are accustomed to a white Christmas, it is a little difficult to get into the holiday mood without snow. That year, even the customary flannel Christmas pajamas felt out of place.
The only normal thing that year was the tree in the living room with sparkling lights and presents piled high. In the back corner was a very big box with my name on it. I had to wait until the very last gift was unwrapped before I was allowed to open the mysterious box. Inside was an English riding saddle, bridle and saddle blanket. This was when I appreciated the warm temperatures and lack of snow.
As soon as I was allowed, I rushed outside and caught my horse. As I groomed him and carefully adjusted all the buckles for a perfect fit, I dreamed of sailing over jumps and entering horse shows. Of course, I anticipated winning a pile of first place ribbons.
Once my horse was all tacked up, I mounted and headed off at a brisk trot. I barely realized my horse was not well trained and had no idea what the cues I had learned at riding lessons were all about. Luckily, I was inexperienced enough to not realize what was happening and fell in love with my English style of riding.
As the years progressed, I coerced my father into building jump standards and made my own obstacles from hay bales, buckets, fallen trees and anything else I could pile up to make my horse jump over. Eventually my riding and training skills were perfected.
Although the bridle was changed from horse to horse, the saddle stayed with me. When I started training horses in earnest, the saddle had a place in the tack room. Later, when I started giving riding lessons, the saddle had a place of honor among all the other saddles.
If that Christmas had been white, would the saddle have been set aside until spring and never played a major role in my future?
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