Horses change lives!
We in the horse world talk a lot about how horses change lives in positive ways, and I could write a book on the subject and still only scratch the surface! Instead of writing a book, I will try to just share some thoughts I have had this week on how my horse has changed my life.
1. Pain Management - Some of you know and some of you don't, I suffer from chronic back and neck pain and as we all know, back pain leads to pain in other places, so sometimes it's just all over pain. The super cool thing is though, when I ride regularly, I don't hurt. Like as in for the first time in my memory I have been pain free!!! It is super duper awesome and something nothing else I ever tried did for me (and believe me I tried a LOT of things). I was reminded of it this week, because with our break in riding, due to Pistol's colic, my neck has been screaming at me for attention. I had forgotten how much it simply sucks to have neck pain 24/7 and I don't even know how I managed it for so long but I am thankful that I finally found something that works for me!! Woohoo to team Pistol!! So I am very excited to get back into our routine, and I know it will be a little slow going as I have to work my body back into it, but I know that before long I will feel good again and I simply can't wait!!
2. Joy - Many of us feel that we are searching for something, some higher purpose, some unmet need, I was doing that too! I couldn't ever figure it out, what was I craving that I didn't have?! Well the answer is, a horse! The horse world is the world I was searching for and now that I am comfortable to call myself part of it, I feel at peace and absolutely full of joy!!! Finally after a life time of feeling like I half belong, I feel like I'm totally in my element and I am where I am meant to be, doing something I actually love!! I'm not always good at it, but I love it and that is the best feeling in the whole world!
3. Perspective - I work in a niche market, my day job skills are unique in my profession and as such there are some times opportunities that are sent to me, I used to pour over every single one of them and dream about how I was going to get from one career point to the next and where I was going to ultimately go. I don't really do that anymore. Not because of some sad, throwing in the towel kind of reason, but because I am centered. I love my job, which helps, of course, but more importantly, I know what I value now. I value relationships and the growth of the relationships I have, I don't always feel the need to go out and cultivate a new path, because the path in front of me has so much life in it. Before I understood horses, I didn't understand myself, and now that I understand both, I understand what I want out of my career. It is a marvelous thing to wake up and not be full of unrest, to walk through the day and be ok with what is and what will be in the near future. I guess you could say that being around horses taught me to live in the now, and the now is pretty great once I learned to embrace it.
4. Patience - I was full of too many feelings before my horse journey started, too restless, too in a hurry to get to something I didn't even know I was chasing. Now I am working to be patient with myself, to let myself feel what is going through me and to release it. I am learning to accept my anxieties, my challenges and just be in the moment with them and not trying to fight them. I am learning that I, just as I am, is enough and that I will accomplish enough. It seems simple but honestly everything I learn at the barn in communicating with Pistol holds over into my daily life and has made me a better version of me.
5. Vulnerability - This is the hardest one. I'm not a gooshy person, I don't cry at much of anything and I don't falter on whatever course I set. However, because of horses, I have learned that crying isn't a bad thing. I have learned that the parts of me I thought were frozen over or slightly broken, were just asleep. I have learned that a heart can grow no matter how old you, or how uncomfortable it makes you. I have learned that it's ok to put yourself out there, that even strangers will catch you when you fall, and those strangers might actually be some of the best people you will ever meet. I have learned that animals can teach us more about humanity than we would ever figure out on our own. I have learned that we were given the gift of speech, not because we are a higher life forms, but because we are less good at reading body language and to survive we have to communicate with words. I have learned that there is a constant growth we must endure internally to become our best selves and no matter our age, we are still evolving.
All of this I learned from having a horse, a single barn, a single barn owner, a single horse, changed my life in ways that are so profound that it boggles the mind, and might even sound silly to admit it all out loud, but it's blatantly true.
I am a better person, a truer version of myself and a happier being because of what I have found.
1. Pain Management - Some of you know and some of you don't, I suffer from chronic back and neck pain and as we all know, back pain leads to pain in other places, so sometimes it's just all over pain. The super cool thing is though, when I ride regularly, I don't hurt. Like as in for the first time in my memory I have been pain free!!! It is super duper awesome and something nothing else I ever tried did for me (and believe me I tried a LOT of things). I was reminded of it this week, because with our break in riding, due to Pistol's colic, my neck has been screaming at me for attention. I had forgotten how much it simply sucks to have neck pain 24/7 and I don't even know how I managed it for so long but I am thankful that I finally found something that works for me!! Woohoo to team Pistol!! So I am very excited to get back into our routine, and I know it will be a little slow going as I have to work my body back into it, but I know that before long I will feel good again and I simply can't wait!!
2. Joy - Many of us feel that we are searching for something, some higher purpose, some unmet need, I was doing that too! I couldn't ever figure it out, what was I craving that I didn't have?! Well the answer is, a horse! The horse world is the world I was searching for and now that I am comfortable to call myself part of it, I feel at peace and absolutely full of joy!!! Finally after a life time of feeling like I half belong, I feel like I'm totally in my element and I am where I am meant to be, doing something I actually love!! I'm not always good at it, but I love it and that is the best feeling in the whole world!
3. Perspective - I work in a niche market, my day job skills are unique in my profession and as such there are some times opportunities that are sent to me, I used to pour over every single one of them and dream about how I was going to get from one career point to the next and where I was going to ultimately go. I don't really do that anymore. Not because of some sad, throwing in the towel kind of reason, but because I am centered. I love my job, which helps, of course, but more importantly, I know what I value now. I value relationships and the growth of the relationships I have, I don't always feel the need to go out and cultivate a new path, because the path in front of me has so much life in it. Before I understood horses, I didn't understand myself, and now that I understand both, I understand what I want out of my career. It is a marvelous thing to wake up and not be full of unrest, to walk through the day and be ok with what is and what will be in the near future. I guess you could say that being around horses taught me to live in the now, and the now is pretty great once I learned to embrace it.
4. Patience - I was full of too many feelings before my horse journey started, too restless, too in a hurry to get to something I didn't even know I was chasing. Now I am working to be patient with myself, to let myself feel what is going through me and to release it. I am learning to accept my anxieties, my challenges and just be in the moment with them and not trying to fight them. I am learning that I, just as I am, is enough and that I will accomplish enough. It seems simple but honestly everything I learn at the barn in communicating with Pistol holds over into my daily life and has made me a better version of me.
5. Vulnerability - This is the hardest one. I'm not a gooshy person, I don't cry at much of anything and I don't falter on whatever course I set. However, because of horses, I have learned that crying isn't a bad thing. I have learned that the parts of me I thought were frozen over or slightly broken, were just asleep. I have learned that a heart can grow no matter how old you, or how uncomfortable it makes you. I have learned that it's ok to put yourself out there, that even strangers will catch you when you fall, and those strangers might actually be some of the best people you will ever meet. I have learned that animals can teach us more about humanity than we would ever figure out on our own. I have learned that we were given the gift of speech, not because we are a higher life forms, but because we are less good at reading body language and to survive we have to communicate with words. I have learned that there is a constant growth we must endure internally to become our best selves and no matter our age, we are still evolving.
All of this I learned from having a horse, a single barn, a single barn owner, a single horse, changed my life in ways that are so profound that it boggles the mind, and might even sound silly to admit it all out loud, but it's blatantly true.
I am a better person, a truer version of myself and a happier being because of what I have found.
I love this, so many feels and so true!
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