8/29/14

A Little Bit Stronger

"Even on my weakest days, I get a little bit stronger." - Sara Evans.
L at Viva Carlos  posted a blog on the 3 things that horses seem to be for everyone and it really gave me some inspiration on this post. I've been slacking in the blog world as of lately because we've been so busy, but I knew I needed to get a post up sooner rather than later. I'm attempting to join Lauren's  blog hop but my phone is currently being a jerk and not taking photos which means I have no way to take pictures for the hop. So blah. 

I'm kind of surrounded by non-horsey people, to be honest. All of my friends acquaintances either know nothing about horses or just don't care, period. And 99% of them think I'm utterly insane for loving my horse more than I do the majority of people in this world. That means that none of them, other than my friends that I've made online who live in different states or as far away as you possibly can while still living in my state, understand my love and passion. I tried to explain it the other day to someone I know from church and basically just said this long speech and she stared at me like I had two-heads, so I just resorted to saying, "Horses are my therapists." in a joking tone even though I was dead serious and left it at that. That being said, all of those people at church know my story. They know I've dealt with some bad things and I've kind of just put up with it and hoped and prayed for everything to be okay later on and the main reasons I'm fine and not sad all the time about things is because I have God, my family and my horse. (I'm putting friends in the family category, because let's be honest. Good friends = family, sometimes even more than real family.) Family is fallible, obviously, and the family I can talk to about things is going through the same bad things as me, so I try not to keep pestering them over things that I feel depressed about so horses, for all intents and purposes, are my escape.

So true. <3 <3 <3 And trust me, today, I need an escape badly... Heading to the barn as soon I can today.
Horses don't judge. They don't argue. They don't try to tell you that everything is okay and that they're sorry for whatever you go through. They're just...there. They listen and take things in stride and let you deal with things but they are always there for me to go to. I think that's part of the reason why I click so much with rescues and horses with problems, whether it be sweet itch and etc like Red or recovering from abuse like Halfpint. I know that they need me just like I need them and that I can help them get through things, too. 

Horses save a lot of people, especially teenaged girls, it seems. I'm not going to lie and say I've had the hardest life in the world - I have a fantastic life and I wouldn't change it for the world, but I've been through things that I wish I could just forget about and move on from. It's hard to watch siblings go down a bad road, it's hard to watch your father on his death bed and still choose drugs and that temporary high over family. And I honestly don't know what I would do without my therapist out in the pasture. Horses have gotten me through the hardest times I've had to deal with, even before I had one of my own. And I believe that they'll continue to be there as that steady, stable safe harbor to go to. All in all, I'm beyond thankful that God ended up putting them in my life because He knew exactly what He was doing and that I'd need a little extra help, I think. There's nothing better for me than taking a ride after a hard day and nothing that will put me in a better frame of mind than climbing in the saddle. For me, it's not to take part in a sport or be competitive (although that's NOT a bad thing, if you like that part of riding.) it's about just riding. Being with my horse and escaping. 

Because this is still the best ride I think I've ever been on, riding into the sunset on a Fall day alone.

1 comment:

  1. I'm Christian as well so I can echo on a lot of thoughts you shared! Two years ago I was very much a different person emotionally, mentally, and spiritually before horses entered into my life last November. Best therapy there is <3

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