24 Nov 2020 Giving thanks for our horses!

Thanksgiving reminds us to be thankful, but horse owners log many reasons to be grateful throughout each year. This week’s post is in honor of the horses in our lives, and because I am a list maker, I put together a top ten list of why I am thankful for Darcy, my twenty-two-year-old Irish Sport Horse.

Horse owners like you are grateful for our equines every day. In honor of Thanksgiving, when our lives continue to spiral in a perpetual tailspin of uncertainty, anxiety, and trepidation, make your own top ten list of why you are grateful for the horses in your lives.

What is on your Thankful for My Horse list?! Please send a message on the Contact page or email me at [email protected].

My Top Five Thankful for My Horse List Follows! Happy Thanksgiving, and stay safe!

1. Darcy teaches me how to slow down and breathe. 

I sit on a tack trunk and watch Darcy eat a flake of hay.  Listening to his molars grind the grass down mixed with the occasional snort is my music. I note the hay moat he has built to reach the tender bits of the forage. I wait for my breath to slow until it matches my horse’s, and I am still.

2. Darcy keeps my multiple sclerosis symptoms in check.

When I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis nine years ago, I thought my riding and horse owner days were over. I struggled to ride. Grooming Darcy was a herculean effort. By breathing in Darcy’s coat, the cold air, and his exhale, day by day, I found not only my strength but my courage.

3. Darcy reminds me to focus on what’s essential in my life.

New Mexico is a feast for the senses, but sometimes I forget to notice the air’s fresh smell, finger rain clouds, or the feed at our bird feeders. Horses live in their time zone, one without to-do lists and errands, instead, one that determines the best time of day to stand in the sun.

4. Darcy reminds me to laugh.

Not unlike a cat, Darcy revels in gravity experiments. I learned to place all my gear on the ground after finding my entire tote bag strewn in a circle in the dirt one day. I caught my boy in the act once and watched him swing my unzipped bag between his teeth, my keys, my tack cleaner, and my headset sailing through the air. How could I not laugh!

5. Darcy welcomes me every morning with a nicker.

Wake up on the wrong side of the bed? The solution to all that ails a horse owner is a nicker from the one who loves you unconditionally. Darcy is quite vocal, but his tones reflect his mood of the day, too. One call of his name and his response might be excited, reflective, or joyful. If he is busy eating hay, I get a nose nod instead!