(“The more aware you are of the possibilities….”)

I came across my old navy ID in a box the other day. Aside from revealing that I was about 25 pounds lighter 44 years ago, it also noted I had brown hair and brown eyes. The change in hair color from then to now is no great surprise. Simply still having some is a triumph.

The eye thing – that’s another story. All my IDs back in the day claimed I had brown eyes. Why? Because when they asked me, that’s what I told them. Sometime in the mid 70s Susan looked at my drivers license and said, “Your eyes aren’t brown.”

“Well, I know they aren’t blue,” I replied. She looked perplexed and announced, “They are hazel.” Then it was my turn to be perplexed. It had never occurred to me that there were more than two choices – blue or brown.

So why am I telling you this other than to show that advancing age is not the only cause of my meshugas? The same principle holds true as you are learning the art of dressage. If you don’t know what all your choices are, it’s hard to pick the best one.

Years ago Susan had a little FEI schoolmaster whom she rode for a year before she stumbled across his passage button. Of course, it was there all along, but not knowing what to look for or where to look allowed him to keep his secret.

Not everyone can have a schoolmaster to learn from, but never eschew the opportunity to get on a horse that knows more or moves better than the one you’re used to. The more aware you are of the possibilities, the better you can go about exploring them on your own horse. No matter what color his eyes are.