To Have A Horse In Your Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYotvgF4j5w&feature=related

To have a horse in your life is a gift. In the matter of a few short years,
a horse can teach a young girl courage, if she chooses to grab mane and hang
on for dear life. Even the smallest of ponies is mightier than the tallest of
girls. To conquer the fear of falling off, having one's toes crushed, or
being publicly humiliated at a horse show is an admirable feat for any child.
For that, we can be grateful.

Horses teach us responsibility. Unlike a bicycle or a computer, a horse
needs regular care and most of it requires that you get dirty and smelly and up
off the couch. Choosing to leave your cozy kitchen to break the crust of ice
off the w ater buckets is to choose responsibility. When our horses dip their
noses and drink heartily; we know we've made the right choice.

Learning to care for a horse is both an art and a science. Some are easy
keepers, requiring little more than regular turn-out, a flake of hay, and a
trough of clean water. Others will test you - you'll struggle to keep them from
being too fat or too thin. You'll have their feet shod regularly only to find
shoes gone missing. Some are so accident-prone you'll swear they're
intentionally finding new ways to injure themselves.

If you weren't raised with horses, you can't know that they have unique
personalities. You'd expect this from dogs, but
horses? Indeed, there are clever horses, grumpy horses, and even horses with
a sense of humor.. Those prone to humor will test you by finding new ways to
escape from the barn when you least expect it.

Horses can be timid or brave, lazy or athletic, obstinate or willing. You
will hit it off with some horses and others will elude you altogether. There
are as many "types" of horses as there are people - which makes the whole
partnership thing all the more interesting.

If you' ve never ridden a horse, you probably assume it's a simple thing you
can learn in a weekend. You can, in fact,
learn the basics on a Sunday, but to truly ride well takes a lifetime.
Working with a living being is far more complex than turning a key in the ignition
and putting the car or tractor in "drive."

In addition to listening to your instructor, your horse will have a few
things to say to you as well. On a good day, he'll be
happy to go along with the program and tolerate your mistakes; on a bad day,
you'll swear he's trying to kill you. Perhaps he's naughty or perhaps he'
fed up with how slowly you're learning his language. Regardless, the horse will
have an opinion. He may choose to challenge you (which can ultimately make
you a better rider) or he may carefully carry you over fences - if it suits
him. It all depends on the partnership - and partnership is what it's all about.

If you face your fears, swallow your pride, and are willing to work at it,
you'll learn lessons in courage, commitment,
and compassion in addition to basic survival skills. You'll discover just
how hard you're willing to work toward a goal, how little you know, and how
much you have to learn.

And, while some people think the horse "does all the work", you'll be
challenged physically as well as mentally. Your
horse may humble you completely. Or, you may find that sitting on his back
is the closest you'll get to heaven.

You can choose to intimidate your horse, but do you really want to? The
results may come more quickly, but will your work ever be as graceful as that
gained through trust? The best partners choose to listen, as well as to tell.
When it works, we experience a sweet sense of accomplishment brought about by
smarts, hard work, and mutual under-
standing between horse and rider. These are the days when you know with
absolute certainty that your horse is enjoying his work.

If we make it to adulthood with horses still in our lives, most of us have
to squeeze riding into our oversaturated schedules; balancing our need for
things equine with those of our households and employers.
There is never enough time to ride, or to ride as well as we'd like. Hours
in the barn are stolen pleasures.

If it is in your blood to love horses, you share your life with them. Our
horses know our secrets; we braid our tears into their manes and whisper our
hopes into their ears. A barn is a sanctuary in an unsettled world, a sheltered
place where life's true priorities are clear: a warm place to sleep, someone
who loves us, and the luxury of regular meals.
Some of us need these reminders.

When you step back, it's not just about horses - it's about love, life, and
learning. On any given day, a friend is celebrating the birth of a foal, a
blue ribbon, or recovery from an illness. That same day, there is also loss: a
broken limb, a case of colic, a decision to sustain a life or end it gently.
As horse people, we share the accelerated life cycle of
horses: the hurried rush of life, love, loss, and death that caring for
these animals brings us. When our partners pass, it is more than a moment of
sorrow.

We mark our loss with words of gratitude for the ways our lives have been
blessed.. Our memories are of joy, awe, and wonder Absolute union. We honor our
horses for their brave hearts, courage, and willingness to give.

To those outside our circle, it must seem strange. To see us in our muddy
boots, who would guess such poetry lives in our hearts? We celebrate our
companions with praise worthy of heroes. Indeed, horses have the hearts of warriors
and often carry us into and out of fields of battle.

Listen to stories of that once-in-a-lifetime horse; of journeys made and
challenges met. The best of horses rise to the
challenges we set before them, asking little in return.

Those who know them understand how fully a horse can hold a human heart.
Together, we share the pain of sudden loss and the lingering taste of long-term
illness. We shoulder the burden of deciding when or whether to end the life
of a true companion.
In the end, we're not certain if God entrusts us to our horses--or our
horses to us. Does it matter? We're grateful God
loaned us the horse in the first place.

Author Unknown

Courtesy of Donnie Anderson and The Texas White Horse Troupe