by Halee, age 12

“Girl, why are you obsessing about just a horse?” asked one of my best friends.

Wow, was she in for a LONG talk! If she had known what kind of talk she was going to get after that one, I’m sure she would’ve kept her mouth shut. It only took me all of two seconds to have my answer.

Just a horse? A horse? Just? Ha! My best moments have been shared with my four legged, equine friends. My most frantic and teary moments as well. Moments that made me laugh, cry, and smile for hours. Just a horse also lies in my still point of the moment, the now. Just a horse has made me dream beyond what I might ever had before. Just a horse has helped me form friendships with horse crazy and just generally crazy but wonderful people, my ‘horsey friends’ who I might not have known before. Just a horse has made me cry and laugh at once! Just a horse has shown me love without words, truth through all life’s lies. Just a horse has made me believe in the impossible.

Horse lovers, adult and child, tend to believe more in magic because we feel it with every moment we have with these beautiful animals, with every ride we have on the back of our best friends, with every novel written in riding logs. We tend to dream more, because we live our lives as dreams.

Yes there are broken bones. Yes there are horrible moments where terror takes a cold clutch on our very hearts. And yes there are moments when the world feels like its been taken from under your feet and you’re floating in an endless expanse of space where no answers will come to you, but in the end we come out with our lives, our knowledge and best of all, our best friends and partners for life.

Anyone who has sat on the back of a horse, anyone who has shared a tender moment of hugs and kisses with an equine pal, anyone who has seen a young child transform in the presence of horses, knows what I mean. No, they are not just animals. They are HORSES. Horses work so hard to communicate with us when all we need to do is listen. Horses have to twist and contort their bodies in impossible ways, seeming to imitate a contortionist, just to tell us a little scratch fueled by tender loving care would be helpful. Horses are amazing in so many ways. I went on and on to my friend for at least an hour. I’m pretty sure she fell asleep! Tsk, tsk. Maybe she thinks I’m making a mountain out of a molehill, but we horse lovers know better, don’t we?

Oh, and in case you are wondering, the thing I was ‘obsessing’ about in the first place was a horse who was mildly lame. Apparently wanting to soak his hoof in warm water was obsessing. Again, we know better, don’t we!

Well, I guess it’s all in the life of a horse lover that we deal with people who don’t understand!

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