National Day of the Horse Wyoming Lifestyle Blogger and Photogrpaher

Today is National Day of the Horse.  I can say without a doubt I am a better person for having grown up on the back of one of God’s most amazing creatures.

What started as a little girl’s infatuation quickly grew into something much more deep and meaningful.  I started riding lessons when I was 10 and before the summer was over, I was forever a horsewoman.  Riding was my sanctuary, my safe place.  My horse and my passion for riding and showing helped guide me through junior high and high school.  Even as an adult, when life got overwhelming, I found comfort and peace in the barn.

There were practical life lessons, too.  Responsibility, character, hard work, grit…all those characteristics were honed in me from caring for and showing horses.  I learned how to win with class.  But more importantly, I learned how to fail.  I failed over and over and over.  I fell off, went off pattern, knocked over jumps, kicked trail poles and lost classes.  At the time it was frustrating because I wanted to win.

But as an adult I can see that the real triumph was not in the belt buckles or trophies, but in the hours spent in the practice arena and barn.  I learned about hard work, the power of practice and the joy of friendship shared between kindred spirits.

I’ve known and loved many horses in my life.  From No Account, the gentle leopard gelding who took me for my first riding lesson to Joker, the gorgeous red roan colt of my childhood mare that I had to euthanize as a yearling because of a degenerative disease.  There was Brown Baby, the horse that invented the mare stare and Sugar, the world’s most amazing and fearless Shetland pony.  And the best horse in the world, Peppermint, who taught me more by being a giant pain in the ass than I could have learned from a thousand push-button mounts.

That’s the amazing thing about horses…they have this way of teaching you what you need to learn, healing you when you need it most and speaking to us through our souls.

Happy National Horse Day.  Throw a leg over leather for me today, won’t you?

Teresa

Enjoy this interview with a horsewoman I’ve looked up to since I was six.  🙂