Whose Quest? Which Rainbow?

The Rainbow in question has four legs, a mane and a tail; aka Western Rainbow (for competitions) or Bow (to friends and family) He's a 10 year old skewbald gelding who I have owned for nearly 6 yrs; a quirky, cheeky and cool character. He is, I confess, a child substitute; any maternal urges I might harbour are entirely fulfilled by him. A superior model -he doesn't need a babysitter, he doesn't answer back and he can jump quite a large fence (with me on his back - even when I've eaten too many buns). I'm not entirely sure that I know any children who could match his spec. The quest I am embarking upon is to see just what I can achieve with Bow without the time restrictions of teaching; we currently compete in affiliated events at international 2 * level and hope to progress to 3*. I'm not sure whether either of us is up to the challenge, but we'll never know until we give it a go. I also need to find other ways of making money; not quite sure how I'm going to do that just yet.

It may seem like a risk - pitching all my hopes upon one four legged creature, but Bow does have an understudy - Roger; a dutch warm blood who rides like he's on springs. He has the most powerful engine I have ever ridden and jumps with jet propulsion. However, his elevated paces might prove to be his undoing - he is currently laid off with an injured suspensory ligament. At least I'm hoping that it was his extravagant movement which caused the problem and not the consequences of my chocolate addiction! Having two horses has always been the plan; so that Bow isn't laden with the entire burden of my expectations and endeavours. It also gives me more practice at keeping my eye in; inevitably I ride far better when I'm riding more horses, more frequently. The best-laid plans often fall apart in my world; poor Roger has been sidelined for nearly as long as I have owned him.

Teaching is one of the best jobs in the world(cheesy yes, but no, it's not a myth) yet also one of the most inflexible. You are correct if your assumption is that teachers are given lovely long holidays; frequent sarcastic allusions to this are a constant reminder of the deep-rooted jealousy suffered by those forced to survive upon the statutory 28 days a year. I've lost count of the snide comments aimed at me because of this; 'On holiday again are you?', 'Gosh, only two weeks off for Easter...' And yes teachers do get long holidays but they are fixed. Whilst most other professions allow employees to choose their holidays, teachers are confined to the parameters of the school calender. I need to be able to take days off to compete and train as necessary; many of the higher level competitions are on week days. And so my competitive equestrian pursuits have become incompatible with my teaching; I've selfishly decided to follow my heart.

Having had the means (Bow) for a while, I now need to see if having the ways (flexibility) is enough to fulfil my quest......