“When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God.”

Ace is my heart horse. We have a connection that I can't explain.

Ace was antsy today. He followed me around. He nickered to me while I did barn work. Ace was bored. I was planning on lunging him today anyway, so I pulled him out of the pasture. He met me at the gate and shoved his head in his halter.

I had a saddle on the fence where he was tied, and he kept looking at it, then back at me, then back at it. But, not in his usual "oh-no-a-saddle-that-might-eat-me!" way, but in an interested way.

So, I picked it up. He didn't flinch, or pull back, or get tense. I put the saddle pad on him, and then the saddle. He acted like it was no big deal. (Which all in itself is a BIG DEAL for Ace.)

He followed me to the tack room, then ground tied in the aisle of the barn while I got out his bridle. He stood with his mouth open until I put the bit in his mouth.

I walked him around in hand with the saddle. I trotted him in hand. He didn't jump at the bouncing stirrups. He didn't arch up his back. He just perked up his ears and trotted after me.

Without really thinking about it, I mounted. I didn't even hold the reins. He stood dead still as I settled onto his back. I clicked once, and he walked on. (I did bother to grab the helmet hanging on the fence before this spontaneous venture, but I wasn't even wearing boots. Riding was not in my plan for Ace today.)

We walked around the yard. We stopped and turned and checked out the trail course I had set up.

I can't describe to you how overwhelmingly happy this simple thing made me. This short five minute ride around the yard gave me hope. It made all this heartbreak worth it. It gave me a small glimpse of the future that Ace and I can have together. Nothing is ever hopeless. Nothing is ever too broken to fix. Sometimes you just have to have faith.

(Fortunately, my boyfriend shot a video of the ride and took a few pictures!)