“Have you noticed the different thing yet?” Iris asks.
I roll my eyes to myself. “Just tell me, babe. I don’t have energy for guessing games today.”
“There’s a new piece of equipment on Cheerio’s head today.”
I look down at my horse’s head, and I’ll be damned, two square pieces of leather are abutting his eyes on either side of his head. “What are those things?”
“Blinders.”
“I didn’t even notice. I guess I’ve been distracted.”
“Isn’t it amazing that something can be there, all along? Just sitting there in front of your nose, but you don’t even see it because yourmindis focused on things that don’t even exist?”
I chuckle. “So, thisisgonna be a wax-on, wax-off kind of thing.”
“Just saying, sometimes, you have to consciouslyfocuson what’s in front of you to be able to see it clearly. As I’m sure you know, Mr. I Can Do Everything Myself, the past is gone. The future hasn’t happened yet. The only thing that’s real is the present.”
“Okay, Yoda. Go ahead and give me whatever little speech you’ve been cooking up in your brilliant head about blinders now. I’m listening.”
She snickers. “Do you know the purpose of blinders?”
“To keep the horse from looking around, I presume.”
“Correct. To keep them from getting distracted by what’s to the right or the left so they can focus their full attention on what’s right in front of them. They help the horse focus on the path ahead. The signals his rider is giving him. Basically, they help the horse turn off his brain and live in the moment so he can more effectively do his job.”
I snort and murmur, “Wax on, wax off. I saw it coming a mile away.”
“That way,” Iris continues, “he can react on instinct. Without overthinking it. He can rely on all his training, power, and strength, without his brain betraying him and telling him to focus on things that don’t matter—things that will only diminish his peak performance.”
“That’s cool, babe. I’m impressed by the metaphor. But, unfortunately, blinders aren’t league-approved equipment. If they were, I’d surely give them a shot.” I scoff and add, “Why not? I’ll try anything at this point.”
Iris sighs, and we ride in silence for a long moment.
Finally, she calls back to me, “Do you know the most important difference between you and a horse, my love?”
“Well, it’s definitely not the size of our dicks, so I guess my answer is no.”
Iris giggles, and to my surprise, I’m able to join her in laughing at my stupid joke.
“The most important difference,” Iris says, “is that a horse can’timagineputting on blinders. He needs his human to do it for him. But a human beingcanimagine it. In fact, it’s a scientific fact the human body reacts to everything the mind vividly tells it, whether the vision comes in a dream, as a manifestation, or whatever. That’s why your heart rate increases whenever you’re having a nightmare. Or you get hard or have an orgasm duringa sex dream. Because your body and mind don’t know the difference between what’s real and what’s imagined, if you focus hard enough on it.”
“I have a hunchsomeoneon this trail is equine therapizing me.”
Iris laughs and doesn’t deny it. In fact, she turns and flashes me a cute little smile over her shoulder that admits I’m spot-on. “Trust the process, grasshopper,” she coos.
“You’ve got it, Mr. Miyagi. I’m all ears.”
She motions toward a shady spot in a nearby clearing, her cheeks flushed and her eyes wide and bright for the first time in a very long time. “Let’s stop for a snack, yes?”
“Whatever you say, Teacher. I’m your willing pupil today.”
Iris brings Trixie to a stop, and Cheerio follows suit, as he always does. And a moment later, we’re sitting underneath our favorite shady tree on the property, nibbling on apples and taking in the view, while our horses drink languidly from a nearby trough.
“Every sports psychologist I’ve ever seen has talked about visualization and manifestation,” I say. “I did a shit ton of visualization before the Baltimore game, and look where that got me.”
“Have you ever visualized yourself putting on blinders during a game?”
I laugh. “Well, no. Can’t say I have.”
