How To Enjoy A 50K—Step 22: Break the Fence
It was no wonder the fence post weakened. It had been sitting in stagnant water, rotting for months. Or was it years?
Because she saw the fence post had weakened, she pawed relentlessly at it with the wall of her hoof. Because she pawed relentlessly, the post grew weaker and weaker still, until the fence itself was broken. Because the fence was now broken, the horse broke free from the field. Because she broke free from the field, she found herself down by the river, unexpectedly, nervously. She had never been there before.
Because she had never been there, she witnessed for the first time how fiercely the river eddied. It pooled and gushed. Because of the gushing she stepped back from the bank. Because she backed up, her hard hooves slipped on the wet rocks, and she tumbled gracefully into the water.
Because she tumbled gracefully, she didn’t bother to find her footing and the rush of the river carried her quickly downstream. Because she was being carried, the horse was able to relax. Because she could relax, she slipped effortlessly back into the flow. Because she went with the flow, she remembered it as intimately as an old friend.
The river had always been there. It carried her through a lifetime of beauty, landscape she couldn’t have imagined on her own, adventure and experience beyond her wildest dreams from behind that fence in the field.
The weakened post became distant, a lapse in time and judgment, a soon to be forgotten past.
Break the fence. Break the fence. Be free, she dreamt. Be free.
How to Enjoy a 50K 