The other day I was finally upgraded to a level 2 Training Horse. I was quite proud of myself for having almost perfected the posting trot and for having achieved longer stretches of time where my current horse River and I were one unit.

My new training horse, Dan, looked sweet at first, but when the time came to put his bridle on, he tested me by not opening his mouth for the bit. I am still tentative about putting my hand in a horse’s mouth to open it. After two unsuccessful tries, he decided that I’m a newbie.

And then Dan really had fun with me. He towered over me so I just could not get his headgear on until I asked my instructor, Kate, for help. In the riding arena, just when I stepped on the topmost step of the mounting block to mount him, he moved back just a few feet so I couldn’t reach the stirrup to climb up. I had to get down, reposition the mounting block, and climb back up. Then he did it again. And again, for 15 minutes. Oh, he was laughing all right.

When Kate finally helped me up, he played all the tricks that River had played with me initially- ignoring my commands, resting whenever he pleased, and more. By the end of a frustrating hour, I finally had him lazily trotting at only half his usual speed and he went where I wanted to go only about half the time. When I did get him to speed up, Dan was mean and surprised me with sudden stops and sharp turns at full trot speed.

It seemed that I was starting all over again. Nothing I had learned so far in the last three months was working with this horse! 

Not nothing, I suddenly realized. 

I was starting over, but not starting from zero. I was frustrated but not scared of falling, like I was on my first ride with River. I could not manage Dan, but this time I could at least manage myself, something I could not do on my first ride with River. I had my balance when he decided to suddenly stop or turn sharply away from the pouring rain. Three months ago, I would have flown off my saddle and landed clumsily in the muck.

Life sometimes deals us a ‘start over’ card. While it is never easy, it is good to remember that our past experiences are never in vain. In some way, they will help us do things a little better this time. We may be starting over, but not starting from zero.