In the 2000 movie The Replacements, one of the final scenes is a sports reporter asking Coach Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman) what the team needs to win the pivotal game. “We need heart.” The reporter asked again, and he repeated as he tapped his chest, “Heart, we need heart.”

I realized today as Ike and I got back to work after my vacation and some weather delays, that while he may not have the most brilliant gaits, what he does have a heart of gold. He tries to understand all my requests as feeble as they may be. After almost two weeks off, he gave me three clean changes on the long diagonal. We tried the trot tours for Third 3 and Fourth 1 with relative success. I smiled with glee at the straight lines and round circles in the freshly dragged ring. We moved through our paces as if we’d had no time off.

It is a shame that there is no score for heart because I would give Ike a 10 every time.

alison