I have been absent for a while. To be honest, I’ve been in a bit of a funk. Sad events in the world at large, and continued incidents of abuse in the horse world, have left little freedom in my brain for bright thoughts. As usual, the horses have provided the bright moments – but each time I sit down to write, the rancor on the internet leaves me little inspired to add my voice. One incident that started as a thoughtful dialog about riding theory devolved into an incident of body shaming from someone halfway round the globe who knows nothing about me. As an introvert, I am easily shouted down, and my fallback position is to retreat.
I have been trying to piece together my purpose in even keeping this blog going. Do I have a voice worth sharing? Or am I just adding to the noise? As ever, my horses bring me back to center. Tally and Coffee bring joy with every day of progress, and whether my voice is important or not, I am once again drawn to tell their story. If I can offer food for thought along the way, all the better.
Thank you to those who continue to read and offer support. I am currently working on some new posts, but I just read the following passage in the introduction to Horse People and had to share. Enjoy!
Beyond jumping, hauling, conveying, racing, or any other work, the horse teaches. Sometimes it’s confidence; other times, humility. Or respect. Honesty. Fairness. A lesson in overcoming this penchant we have for impatience or in defeating fear – of falling, of failing, or even of loving something frail as a horse or any other creature. As David Romtvedt writes, of a friend whose horse is dying, “I looked at Jean and realized that these feelings were not some easy sentimentalization – loving an animal because it requires less than loving another person. Instead I saw that Jean’s love of the horses – and mine, too – was a way to have union with another world.”
In fact, a horse requires much more from us – more training, space, money, time, trust, respect, deference, work – and thereby taxes nothing less than the most genuine part of our nature. Our true character must rise to the challenge, admit failure, or be taught, and thereby changed.
Michael J. Rosen
Until next time, be good to your horses!
Lia
Horse Crazy Once Again 