Horse Blog

Horses have played a huge part in my life. Something I am only just realising. I remember my first real horse encounter. My dad had been a drover for many years, as was his father so I guess that’s where the passion for horses came from. Dad had a young horse called ‘Fairy”, great name for a little girls pony… but she wasn’t mine. One day when I was 6 or 7, dad was longing Fairy and I asked him if I could ride her. I guess he thought he had her under control so he put me up on her bare back. She started to trot and I lost my balance and bounced off, as I hit the ground Fairy tried to jump over me but she trod on my leg slicing my calf open – I don’t think she was ‘light of feet’ like you’d imagine a fairy to be! anyway, I was a really skinny kid so 7 stitches in my leg was a pretty big wound. My legs are still skinny, I used to think I could use the accident as an excuse for not having a calf muscle…. but then the other one never developed either…. so it blew that theory!

Agarn from F Troop

They say that what you dreamed of being or doing as a child is what you should pursue in your adult years. Well, all I can remember wanting, dreaming and longing for was to be like Agarn off F Troop, (a wacky western comedy 60’s TV series) I can’t for the life of me work that out now. For those who never watched the show, Agarn was a major klutz! go figure! I used to dream of being in the cavalry, wearing the uniform, riding a horse and sending smoke signals to the indians. Now that I’m older… a lot older, I wonder what that meant.  My husband says, “why Agarn, why not Calamity Jane?” well, I don’t know, maybe I should get a copy of F Troop and take a look, it might give me a few clues about my self…. hmm, then maybe not.

We left our farm and moved to suburbia not long after my mishap with Fairy, don’t know what happened to her, guess she was sold. The only time I got to ride a horse then was when mum finally gave in to my begging and paid for an hour trail ride at a tin pot riding school. I can still remember the smell of the horses and the excitement of riding along the side of the road on an old hairy horse in a great big saddle. I’d pretend I was in uniform with a gun on my hip and I swear I saw smoke signals coming over the hill, I was in heaven for an hour. It kept me going until I could con mum again.

After a few years of living in town mum and dad bought a small property when I was about 11, I finally had a horse again. She was a real challenge and at the time I thought she was just mean but now that I understand horses a little more I know that she wasn’t mean, she was just doing what horses do. It was only my ignorance that made me feel that way. She taught me to respect horses that’s for sure, but she also taught me to ride, to persevere and to keep at it no matter what the challenge. Those lessons have stood me in good stead during some pretty rough patches in my life so, she wasn’t mean, she was just a good teacher.

So now after recalling my dreams as a child I’m feeling a little bit disturbed. I’m going to make it a mission to get a copy of F Troop to try and figure what was I thinking!  Maybe if I watch it again I will find a deeper understanding of what my goal in life really is… or at least why I have suppressed it all these years.

For the moment I know that my goal is to start an Equine Facilitated Learning Centre so I can work with my horses to help others as well as myself. I have so much regard for the horse and the lessons they have to teach us. I am privileged to have 12 horses in my life at the moment and they are all with me for a reason, I guess I’ll find out why on my travels through life, its a journey and one I’m looking forward to.

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