Love of Horses
Author Unknown

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:  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.

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.

Contributed by Kathleen in memory of Dynasty, aka, Nasty.

Dynasty's Memorial Tribute