Monday, November 12, 2012

Everything Happens For A Reason

The ad was a sadly familiar sight these days. "Free to a good home, Thoroughbred mares and fillies. Seven to choose from!" With the dry summer and hay prices soaring, it seemed just about everyone was trying to thin their herds. The pictures with the ad didn't really show a whole lot...a band of mostly bay mares, dotted with the occasional chestnut, grazing in an open field.

I had tried so many times to get another horse, each time the quest ended in failure and I had all but given up. I'd been horseless for nearly 7 years....I had been in emotional turmoil for most of those years. I went through a phase where I was hopefully optimistic, when that failed I moved on to depression...every time someone mentioned "horse" or something that had to do with horses I wanted to burst into tears or scream in frustration...or both at the same time. As the years went by, the raw feeling wounds slowly numbed, however they never fully went away. I started feigning indifference every time one of my friends started talking about their horses. Every time I went to look at a potential equine, I locked away the hope, the pain and the frustration and tried to make the experience as business-like as possible to shield myself from the inevitable failure. We couldn't really afford a horse...but I just couldn't make myself stop. I felt that if I stopped trying, I would never get another horse and I just couldn't live with that.

I decided that I would compromise with myself. So maybe I couldn't have a horse of my own, but maybe I could help others with their horses. That way I would still be able to keep horses in my life and I would be giving people help at the same time! I placed an ad and sat at my laptop...anxiously waiting for replies. At the end of the day I had 13 responses from people who were interested in my help. Everything from lesson barns wanting help warming up their lesson horses to private owners that wanted their horses to get more attention. I met with most of them and finally settled on a quiet farm with only 2 horses. The owners were friendly and the barn and paddocks were in good repair. All in all, things were going well. I worked with their horses, making sure I kept my own emotions in check so that I wouldn't get too attached to them. About a month later, the farm owner looked at me and asked why I didn't have a horse of my own and when I told him that I just couldn't afford board for one he looked at me and said "Well hell, if that's the only reason, you can board here for nothing. Just keep working with mine in exchange for board!" Needless to say, I was just a little excited!

The next day I went in search of my next horse. Trying to keep costs down, I first scanned the "free to a good home" ads. I came across the above mentioned ad and asked if any of those mares or fillies were still available. After that, things just started falling into line...

Friday, October 19, 2012

Anybody Out There?

Wow...So much has happened in the past while. I haven't bothered to really blog since well, not many are reading it haha! I haven't forgotten about it, it just wasn't high on my list of things for a while. Don't worry, I have a new filly and I plan on blogging about her quite a bit since well, she just sort of insisted on coming home with me!