In the UK we were fortunate to experience a solar eclipse this year. When I discovered that the peak of it would occur at the same time I would be riding The Pony, I just had to try to make a moment of it.
Heading to The Pony after work meant I was already on a time crunch to get to the highest point to see the eclipse. Everything seemed to take longer than normal. Usually, I am one of the quickest to be ready to ride, even including grooming, when required. But this day seemed to be a challenge.
With twenty minutes until the peak of the eclipse, I mounted The Pony. The best spot would normally take about fourty minutes to get to with normal riding!
And here came the second issue – too much pressure!
“Why are we in a rush?”
“Because there’s an eclipse, Pony. We don’t want to miss it!”
“But I’m not confident yet, you know I need time to find my confidence outside.”
“We don’t have time, Pony!” Whilst carefully trying to balance calmness with forwardness, I egged The Pony onwards.
I doubted the plan many times. There was no way we could make it. It was too far, too late! I could have taken a more direct route, but it was too late to turn back at this point.
We rode through the stream where The Pony decided he wanted a drink and a play – we were in the middle of another heatwave, so I let him.
Eight minutes to eclipse.
Squinting up at the blazing sun I tried to see how far the moon had passed. Almost halfway. I started to think there was no way we could make it. I gave up, I let The Pony eat some grass by the stream and decided to just enjoy the Feng Shui.
I squinted at the sun again. Half way. Five minutes ’til the peak.
Suddenly I had a burst of resolve. If we walked it would take us far too long, but we could trot! And so we did.
For 1 mile/ 1.6km we trotted; all along the lane, the shadows growing darker and longer as the moon eclipsed the sun; The Pony peering around him in a mixture of interest and confusion, shying at patches that were darker than he expected; all the way up to the top of the hill, where we found others also viewing the eclipse that was already at it’s peak…
…behind clouds.
Every so often a crescent of light would shine from behind the clouds, demonstrating that even if we couldn’t see it, the eclipse was happening. And since it was already dusk, the light did not even fade as much as expected.
The Pony, thinking we were heading home tried to continue walking on, but I placed his nose in front of hedge full of blackberries as a reward for his hard work, and I decided to enjoy whatever the eclipse gave me.
Was it worth it for the eclipse, perhaps not.
But it was worth it for the adventure and the team work it took for The Pony to trust that although everything we were doing on that ride was not normal, and that the environment itself was behaving differently, I would look after him and keep him safe. And together we enjoyed a lovely summer, sunset ride.