Horse Blog

Have you ever felt compelled to stop riding your horse and just sit there for a while? Sometimes this happens to me and when it does it is such a strong need that I just have to stop. I don’t know what it is or why it happens but it is such a peaceful feeling. This happened to me last weekend. I was in a pensive mood, and all I wanted to do was just walk through the bush on my horse. She was really calm as well, the dogs were with me running around after rabbits and then suddenly everyone stopped, there was nothing there, but the feeling to just sit was overwhelming. So I sat on my horse, closed my eyes and took it all in. It was a magic afternoon, the perfect temperature with a soft breeze, you could smell spring on the air, the birds were busy, the bees were buzzing but everything had a calmness about it.

I thought about Rhys, a little friend who has severe disabilities, and how he sat so well on the horse that morning when we took him for a ride, the same horse I was sitting on now. I wondered what he was thinking, he and Winnie obviously understood each other. I wished I could communicate with him as well.

I thought about Winnie and how she came over to Rhys and nuzzled him through the fence. How my little dog wanted to sit on his lap and the other pup we have wanted to play with him and lick his face. They all seemed to understand each other but on a different level than I can comprehend. I would love to be in tune enough to be able to get into the conversation with them all.

People like Rhys may not have all the abilities that most of us have but I’m sure he has so much more ability in areas we have no idea of. I see that when I watch the animals communicate with him with no obvious barriers.

I believe that horses really warm to kids no matter what the ability because, generally speaking, kids are pure of heart, they have no hidden agenda when they go for a ride, they don’t need to prove themselves to anyone, all they want is to ride the horse and have fun. No pressure to perform, no spurs, whips or jerking heads… kids usually don’t do this until an adult tells them to.

Imagine if everyone treated horses like children do, if we all just loved them and appreciated them for the amazing being that they are, they would hang out with us because they want to. The famous horseman, Ray Hunt said “You get out what you put in” and I think that he is spot on.

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