Sunny joined our family over 20 yrs ago, the Christmas after my 7th birthday. Andrea got her as a Christmas present that year but she always did a really good job at sharing her with us younger kids.
When we first got Sunny she was young and very green. I can still remember my first time riding her, I was taking lessons at Wendy's house out in Draper. Normally I would have ridden my mom's horse Mistraff but for some reason he wasn't available that day. Reluctantly my mom told me to saddle up Sunny instead. I beamed with pride, Sunny had the tendency to be a less than reliable horse, if my mom thought I was good enough to ride her then I must have been really good.
Lessons that day were in the neighbors pasture across the street. The outer ring of the pasture was dirt and used for riding, the inner ring was grass and used for grazing. Toward the edge of the grass there was a grate--you know those things with spikes on them that they pull behind tractors to level out the ground? There it was, just sitting there with the spikes poking up. I hadn't been riding Sunny for more than a few minutes before she took off with me across the field, she was running straight for the grate and no matter what I did I could not deter her. I was pretty sure we were both going to die as she jumped at the last possible second. All I remember thinking was that if I fell off, those spikes were going to go right through me. And so, I held on with everything I had until Sunny had landed safely on the other side and finally calmed down.
You would think such an experience would be traumatic for a young girl but instead it made me feel like I could handle anything. I rode Sunny a lot more after that.
So many fun memories on Sunny. Not-a-shows out at Vista farms. Tag. Barrel racing. Jumping -- Sunny hated jumping, she would always pretend to be afraid of it. When you did finally get her to jump she always made sure she cleared the pole by a good 3 feet. No sense in risking hitting it. -- Horse shows. Camping up at Payson lakes. Riding up the river. Running through fields. Laying on her back and reading books on lazy summer days. Endless trail rides through the mountains. Teaching friends how to ride.
It may sound cheezy but Sunny was always there for me. To this day whenever I got stressed or sad or frustrated I would go out and jump on Sunny. We would have good chats about all the things I was struggling with and she would just listen as we mozied along. Sometimes I would just lay on her back for hours contemplating life and where it might take me. She would lazily eat grass as I took the time to figure things out. Other times I would jump on her and we would just go on a run as far and as fast as we could. Those never lasted long though as Sunny, like most horses, never liked to wander too far from her other horsey friends.
I remember one night when I was a young teenager I got into a huge fight with my parents. We just so happened to be keeping our horses at a friends house in the neighborhood that week and so after my parents had gone to bed I grabbed my sleeping bag and snuck over to the horses and laid next to Sunny as we watched the stars. Eventually the anger subsided as I was filled with awe at the beauty of Heavenly Father's creations. Sunny always made me feel closer to God.
One of my favorite things about Sunny was even though she did eventually mellow out a little she never lost her zest for life. She loved to run and I loved to let her. I probably shouldn't have, I know I spoiled her which made it harder for other people to ride her but I just couldn't help myself. There's nothing like that feeling of just taking off and letting the horse go. It's something you have to experience to understand.
I also love how Sunny was always such a little stinker. She could always tell if you knew how to ride or not. If you did, then she was an angel for you 95% of the time. If you didn't though, man she loved to have fun with that. It's not that she would go crazy, she was still the most reliable horse we had for friends to ride, she just liked to do her own thing and show the experienced who was really in charge. I always found it very entertaining.
With Sunny being gone I can't help but being full of regret. I wish I had made more time for her instead of allowing myself to get so busy. I had great plans to go on a long trail ride over Christmas break and yet I never made it out there. Last spring I had the idea pop into my head to hire a professional photographer to come out and take pictures of Sunny and I. I had this vision in my head of a picture of Sunny laying in a spring field filled with dandelions and desert flowers. As Sunny lay there enjoying the fresh spring day I would be sitting against her belly reading a book. I never got the picture. Maybe I'll commission Andrea to paint it for me. Most of all I regret not ever being able to take my bridal pictures on her. I know that probably seems like a stupid thing to be sad about but ever since I was a teenager I've had visions in my head of me taking my bridals on Sunny. Running through a grassy field in my wedding gown. Standing there as she reaches over my shoulder to grab a carrot. Me in my dress on Sunny with my fiance in a tux on a different horse, walking away into the sunset our back towards the camera. I'll never have those pictures either.
I try not to focus on those things so much though. I try to remember all the good times we had. There sure were a lot of them and I don't ever want to forget them, I want to be able to tell my children stories about Sunny just like my mom tells us stories about Natani and other horses from her childhood. I'll keep those memories close to my heart until one day on the other side Sunny and I will be reunited and together we can run through the fields of eternity.
I love you and I love this.
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