It may surprise you but I think about horses. A lot.
And even though I have a barn full of my own, they never capture my imagination as much as when they aren't around. And even though, I am on equine and have basically unlimited access to horses, I think about them even more.
I've always written about them. About fast race horses, about slow racehorses. Even stories that didn't involve horses up front somehow found a way to have a horse included in them. My high school history teacher found it amazing that every project that I did, that I managed to sneak the role of the horse in there somehow.
Anyway, I'm still thinking about horses all of the time. Making me like many 12 year old girls out there.
And now in the clinic, even though somewhere deep in my heart I know that some horses won't make it to live a better life, even though I know that some horses will end up in the big green pasture in the sky, I can't help but to think about what they were before or what the could be. I look at the skin and bones draft horse and can only picture him big and strong pulling something in the field, pulling a log out of the forest. I look into his deep brown eyes with their inch and half long lashes and see only peace and kindness. His muzzle was so soft. I can't see him for what he was-sick. But I still know that not having to live the pain any longer was the best.
I look at my racehorse and know that the surgery we did won't keep him on the track forever. But maybe one more season. One more summer of breaking through the gate, going around the turn and into the home stretch winning by a nose. I hope that's enough for him. I hope that after that he can live a life well deserved.
I think I'll always have a place in my heart for horses. I can't help but see the beauty that they hold. The way they move, the gentle curve of a neck or leg, the smell they have-warm and clean even when they are not. The way a horse holds their tail or flares their nostrils. Every part moving together like a song.
Seriously. I love horses alot. Like a 12 year old girl.
[EDIT-originally published to Blogger-12/21/11]
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