Overheard at.... the barn

"You have to really bounce to get that leg up over the horse."

I don't believe I have ever truly understood the term 'rapt' until I saw the expression on my daughter's face as she watched two of her favorite interests, horseback riding and gymnastics, combined. Full of energy, she is usually in constant movement. For that moment, though, as she observed the young girl of six attempting to mount a moving horse without stirrups, she was absolutely still and totally focused.

"I could do that...." I heard her whisper to herself, and understood in that moment that our lives will be taking a new direction. We will see where it actually leads, but in the meantime I predict quite a few overhears to be at the horse barn. The good news is that I like horses too, so I will get to combine interests as well.

Given that I have spent a little bit of time around horses, I am surprised it is the first time I had heard of horse vaulting. As soon as one of the moms mentioned it to me I guessed it would be interesting to my daughter. It wasn't just that she loves both sports, but also that they are the two skills where she has the most confidence. The idea that she could merge these two sports into a completely new, unique one was simply too compelling to pass up.

And I love this idea! Isn't it cool to imagine picking things we are great at and then combining them to create something uniquely our own? My mom is really interested in cooking and drama; I suppose she could go on the food network..... or she could write. My Friend's interest? Skiing and dogs... she could do search and rescue or.... write. My husband loves tennis and reading.... obviously he could read books about tennis. Or, he could write some. 

The pattern here is too obvious to miss, even for my teenage nephew (music and service). While there might be other ways to combine passions, nothing is more fundamental than writing. Of course the problem is that not everyone loves to write like I do.  Too bad, because while it is probably really tough to find an activity which combines tree climbing with needlepoint for example, I could imagine a lovely story about a girl who sits in the highest branches of trees to do her stitchery.
 
I am so grateful, then, that while I may not be able to vault onto the back of a horse, I can certainly write about a young girl who can.