I have tried explaining, via email, a few things about my distance/why. I pretty much wanted to reassure her it wasn't really her or anything she had done and it wasn't that our friendship to be a further-apart kind of friendship ..... but that it seemed to be my habit to presume people would want or need distance from me, too, and also that I was nervous about vulnerability/exposure, because there was a ton of stuff she went through with me last summer, and I guess I just thought she wanted to be more careful too about how close she let me be to her, so I wouldn't be putting a burden on her. But that was me making an assumption, probably just because I was actually needing the space myself too and was also being prepared for abandonment, I guess.
Maybe it would help to explain it using the horse story, maybe that would put things in a clearer context.
Anyway, she hasn't responded to my last email, so I'll just let it be for a few days and see what she does/says, if anything......just can't make assumptions about what she's thinking or will choose to do.....