Galloping and Galloping, with Horses and Truly Friendship

• 作者: ******
• 學號: *****
• 系級: 外語 **
• 職稱: 96學年-文資股長、97學年～-社長

Overture

The indigo sky was so vast without clouds; the creamy beach was so expansive without ends. Fishers pulled up the sampan with harvest, and the waves never stopped patting the coastline. It was a bright sunny early morning, and I was galloping on the beach of Chunan to witness these beauties, with horses and my friends.

It was May 23, 2008, my very first experience to ride on the beach.

Hoofprints carved the shiny beach, and waves murmured beside me. I laughed, yelled surprisingly and ecstatically. It was my dream to ride horses on the beach, and it was totally out of my expectation to gallop on the beach with my friends, and with those beloved animals. As galloping, the wind whispered its story beside my ears, and I hummed a story to myself. A story which I would and will never ever forget, a story which always belongs to horses, my friends, and Equestrian Club. Listen, please, here is how the story of perspiration, tears, and laughter is weaved.

[編輯]Destiny on Horsebacks

I knew there was an Equestrian Club in National Tsing Hua University when I was applying for colleges in my third year of senior high school. When the brand new college life started, I attended Equestrian Club without hesitation. Horses have been my favorite animals since I was a child, and they are the greatest passion and pleasure which makes me stick with the club. However, when I spend more and more time on riding, I gradually discover that happiness is not shared alone; it must be shared with friends of the club, the family of the owner (instructor) of the Equestrian Center. This great delight cannot exist alone, but it should be accompanied by those people who have consensuses and the same interest. The pleasure of horseback-riding is built on them therefor.

Being able to ride and give orders to a horse isn't as easy as what it seems on TV series or Wild West and Chinese Kong-fu movies. First of all, we have to learn how to saddle a horse; hence we have the most basic qualification to get on horseback. We clean up stables, shovel out horses' excrements, clean hooves, and wash horses. We sweat like faucets for the burning weather and sneeze for the fur and dust occupying in the air. We work with dirt on our shirts to earn the equestrian course in return. When the sky is still dim and the sun is still sleepy, we wake up and go horseback-riding in the Center or on the beach. We practice at least once a week, and it's time for connection and communication with friends and members in the club as well as the family of the instructor.

We had been through confusion, conflicts, doubts, and distrust. We were once on the edge of scatter and separation, once so close to the end of the club, and I almost gave up the faith I used to believe and we used to share. Nonetheless, we all went through this turmoil, this blast which blew all of us up. We reconstruct our creeds, and we build up our consensuses. We reside in Equestrian Club again, and we consider the blast a lesson, and a challenge which a club must undergo. We gather up our beliefs which were scattered and blown away by the turmoil. We are once again determined and passionate.

Nothing on earth can extinguish my enthusiasm for seeing, patting, and riding horses.

[編輯]The First Trial

Heinekens' bubbles stimulated our mouths and throats. We drank beer under the less-cruel sunshine of mid spring. Riders in formal riding jackets and tailcoats were striving to earn a medal. We sat on balcony seats or leaned against railings, watching brilliant horses cantered, rose, and jumped off. Riders were concentrated and showed a perfect harmonious image of the cross-species friendship and trust. It was April 4, 2008, the Equestrian Cup for College Students.

During our winter vacation, we spent a week practicing our skills and cultivating our feelings on horsebacks everyday from day to night for this great event. As usual, we woke up when the sky was still gloomy, yet this time it was much harder and more challenging. This one-week training was held in the chilly winter. Whenever the horse expired, the vapor bursted out and mixed with dust risen by its march, causing a bizarre mist which only belongs to the magic forest in fairy tales. We experienced this very first riding lesson taken in the bleak and rainy winter. We started to learn deeply, from the most primary posting trot to a bit advanced level, the gallop position. We learned how to treat a horse: It was all about reflections of your motions, or even emotions. Riding was not commanding, but an interaction with this delicate creature. Riders should feel the subtle reflections from the horse, and thus trusted it as if the rider and the horse were together as one individual. To be short, horses were not rackets or balls which one can manipulate as they want to; they were living creatures with the rhythm of breathing, wills, and the passion to canter or gallop. They were animals, lives; therefore, it was absolutely impossible for humanity to subject these free spirits to fully obedience. That was what made equestrianism so attractive yet also challenging. Not until I experienced this so keenly did I truly apprehend the immensity of equestrianism.

The heartless winter blast still twisted our faces; our thighs were so sore that we could barely squat down, and we felt as if our backs could never bend again. We were alike young sipirts which were imprisoned in a ninty-year-old body; the torture of muscle soreness and pain never ceased. However, none of us complained. Although exhaustion grasped everyone, our hearts were full of content. We had a goal in mind, but it was not about getting medals, it was about achieving ourselves and dreams. When the day came, the very first trial came, it was during the Spring vacation; and of course, the bombardment of midterms would launch soon afterwards. Putting aside the vexation brought by this embarrassing situation, we marched north to Taipei, to conquer our first trial. Studies and midterms? Let's deal with those later.

Compared to other participants, we didn't have any fancy or luxurious equestrian wares and equipment. We didn't have any personal instructor to warm up our horses for us. And indeed, owning a horse was the farthest dream I didn't dare to weave. All what we had were jeans and short riding boots, which were the most luxurious possession we wore. We weren't as advanced and experienced as other participants, and we knew that by heart before attending this competition. Nonetheless, we had the strongest backup which only few participants had -- The support from all our club members and friends which was across nationalities and regions. Our club members were from Taiwan of course, Malaysia, the United States, and Sweden. Mandarin Chinese was not the only dominant language in our club; we also used English to communicate.

We were a team; we were together as a whole. That was absolutely more meaningful than any kind of material support.

The game lasted until afternoon. We had our lunch there, drinking Heinekens offered by sponsors while watching other participants performing their best. When it was time to announce score and rankings, people all gathered to the board; and to my surprise, we actually had a really great score! Our members got the championship in both group and individual show jumping event, and also won a place in individual dressage. Most of us got nothing, but we did learn something treasurable: experiences, cooperation, both spoken and unspoken consensuses, and the time accompanied by friendship. I got nothing, but I was proud of myself because I had friends who were willing to share their happiness and glory with other non-prize members. That surpassed everything in material.

[編輯]Cavalrymen Go Marching

A long chain of parade snaked the route from NTHU to NCTU. Drumbeats, whistles, and slogans clustered up the air and created a battlefield atmosphere. The mascot Panda and students in parade were all hot-blooded, shouting their slogan out loud, "Mei Chu succeeds, Tsing Hua shall win!"

February 24, 2008, NTHU on horsebacks and by feet marched and conquered the land of NCTU. Yes, it was us who were on horsebacks, trampling its fields and land. The roar soared and spread, two riders along with a crowd of people were in the Mei-Chu Parade. It was a historical time for us because Equestrian Club dedicated her very first experience to participate in Mei-Chu Events. I never thought I would be that close to this fervent and great annual event. This time, we were evaluated from a small club group to an interscholastic level. I was not merely an individual but one of the gears which ran and spurred the operation of a great machine.

The cool breeze still swept my hair; it was still in winter. Yet this time there was no bleak and rainy weather. The glary sunshine warmed up my toes and fingers. Chatty and witty slogans were all around us and made me laugh out aloud like a silly. With the vehemence of the parade and the beauty of the campus, riding could never be that wonderful.

[編輯]Finale

Today, November 22, 2008. It has been my fifteenth month since I met with Equestrian Club, the four hundred and fifty-sixth day since I started to ride horses, the fourteenth year since I was obsessed with these adorable animals, and the third month since I got the honor to take the responsibility of being a president this semester.

My freshman year flew away and into the wheel of time. Indeed, time flies and waits for no one. The graduated endeavor in careers or graduate studies; the senior waved goodbye to this verdant campus and went to accomplish his obligation of being a soldier; the juniors became senior and eventually succeeded in applying graduate schools. I am not a sprout anymore; I feel the duty to pass down the vividness and heritage which belong to our club.

I fail, yet I get up again, just like what all riders do when they fall down from horse. I strive, I bounce back, I get lost, and I hesitate. I know some sayings are about something can only be done alone, but I still believe that the greatest happiness exists along with friendship. I am not the only one who undergoes all these ups and downs, and in comparison with those pioneers in the club, the situation was indeed better off and much more comfortable.

The instructor, Mr. Wang once told us, "Dedicate your life, your passion, your time to riding, but not dedicating your money." And from the Bible: Ecclesiastes, "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up." Those sayings are alike a shot of cardiac, injected into my wandering heart when I encounter barriers. Yes, I have passion for horses and riding, and I have time, though I'm not a freshman anymore, still, I have friends.

A flock of horses were galloping on the infinite land. Excitement and incredibility was carved on our faces while hooves were stamping the earth; clops were swallowed by grass. This time we were galloping on the grassland located in the front of the Technology Management Building. The sky was so clear that stars and the moon were glittery. The night was so glamorous because the air was not only filled with the fragrance of the grass, but our laughter and chitchats. I giggled like a silly again, and my voice trembled with ecstasy. We gallop on beaches, grasslands, city and country roads, and what else?

Whatever it can be, as long as we are galloping together, and we are enjoying, laughing, perspiring, and weaving our story, with our infinite friendship.