Priceless

When starting a new horse after driving a champion driving horse there are bound to be comparisons.  Tonight "Best" showed that even if he never wins a blue ribbon he's still an outstanding representative for Standardbreds.  We had three 'priceless' moments tonight.

Today was the open house at the Deer Creek Stable where I board.  I'm the only driving horse there and they don't do driving lessons so I hadn't planned on driving today.  I put my ribbon wall hanging on Best's door and made sure the cart looked good but that was the extent of my planned participation.  Oh, and I braided Best's mane and tail.  While I had him out, brushing on him, two young girls came by.  They had driven a mini once and were interested in driving a horse.  I wasn't going to hook but I thought, what the heck, I'll tack him up and let them line drive him.  As an extra precaution I hooked a lounge line to him so that if something went wrong I'd have a back up, after all this is a horse that was racing just 50 days ago. 

That was when we had our first priceless moment - he was perfect.  Both girls line drove him several times around the ring and had a blast.  They thanked me several times and gave Best a good petting.  One remarked that she was going to consider doing some more driving.

The second priceless moment came when I was walking around with Best.  We ended up near my car and I thought I'd save myself a walk later by grabbing the lawn chair then.  All was well until I took a bad step. Down I went!  Chair went one way, glasses went another, and I did a landing that included multiple location grass stains! As I was falling I thought, CRUD!  There goes the horse!  How wrong was I?  He just stopped and patiently waited until I got up (which took a couple of minutes).  Anyone else would have been gone!

The third priceless moment was the result of several people asking me about hooking Best.  I finally decided I would and immediately had a line of people wanting rides.  None of them had ever had a driving experience before.  One little girl, when asked if she had ever been in a cart before, replied "Only in the grocery store!"  Another little girl who might have been 2 or 3 years old rode with her Mom with a smile and loved trotting.  Later she came up to me and asked if she could have another ride.  I promised that the next time she came I'd be happy to take her for another ride.

I loved driving Draken and wouldn't change the experiences I had with him for the world but he never would have done what Best did today.  And so I can say with all seriousness that even if he never wins a blue ribbon he's providing me with priceless experiences all the same.