Who hasn’t begged for a pony for Christmas? My generation scrutinized the color plates of horse breeds in the H volume of our aged Encyclopedia Britannica. Some of us read Black Beauty a dozen times. We held Man from Snowy River film festivals at home. Kids today haunt websites like www.horsecrazygirls.com.  Generations agree, a pony for Christmas it the very best present.

Some of us got lucky and horses took over our lives. We still ask Santa for more of the same dream- something for our 16 hand ‘ponies’- like a new blanket or maybe flying changes.Some of us kept dreaming of a horse forever. I have several clients who were finally able to begin riding in their 40’s, or even 50’s. The dream gets really well baked by that time and horses especially love these riders. Wisdom and patience improve with age and I think horses actually prefer midlife exuberance. These riders and horses are together for all the best reasons; I am constantly inspired by them.

What do ponies want for Christmas?  That is so simple; a safe home and a little more time with you. Truth is that most of our horses want for nothing. (They are the lucky ones- it’s a good time of the year to remember those horses still looking for a safe home.)

The dream of a pony for Christmas is the dream of hope and possibility. It’s how life could be if we were lifted and carried above the ground to a magical place. We’re never too old for that- it’s the stuff a good midlife crisis is all about.

My Christmas wish is that each of us still has a christmas wish to share. That we get excited as a horse-crazy girl for a pony -about whatever is special in our lives. And if that special dream arrives with a big red bow on it, we show the good sense to climb on and ride!

“When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” C.S. Lewis

Anna, www.AnnaBlakeTraining.com

(Photo: Claro d’Luna, full moon baby.)