This is my first blog ever!! Actullay This is the first Social Networking Site!!! :)
My daughter messaged this pic to me. Isn't this the most amazing Fresian you have ever seen? Notice how the mane seems to touch the flowers... and the tail... where does it end? Makes my heart skip a beat.
This morning during my quiet time with the Lord, He gave me a beautiful illustration while I was praying.
I am restudying the book of Ephesians because we will be studying it in our small group at church. I was reading chapter 5 when I came to these verses:
See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is (15-17)
I stopped here and began to pray that I would not walk unwisely and that I would not waste time. While I was praying the image of a dressage rider and its horse came into my mind...how beautiful the dance between horse and rider... the harmony between the two...when the horse willing let's the rider lead...every movement seamless, without struggle. This is what I wanted in my relationship with the Father. So I prayed that I, like the horse, would willing surrender my will; that I would walk in harmony with Him.
When we trust our Lord and willing surrender to His direction it is a beautiful picture we present to Him and the world. In this we allow His light to shine.
May there be beautiful harmony between you and God and between you and your horse today
Hooray! I have finished all the course work for my certificate in Horse Science this fall. That's 1 goal met. Can't wait to see whatelse God has in store for me. I just pray I am up to the challenge. In His strength I know that I will be.
Wishing you a Happy New Year and praying that you have a wonderful and fruitful year with your horses as you continue to learn new things and grow together.
How wonderfully blessed we are to share our lives with these amazing teachers (horses).
Stupid Horse? You Be the Judge
With all the horse clinicians on the scene these days I don’t hear that phrase much anymore, but I used to. Every now and then it pops into my thoughts and this morning was one of those times. Sometimes I’m doing a task like cleaning stalls. Other times I am working with a horse-during which I am always impressed with how intelligent they are (especially the Arab). My thoughts usually end with me thinking that if the people who believed that just understood the horse (its fears especially), they wouldn’t think that way.
From my observation, they mostly base it on such events as when a horse runs into a fence and hurts itself during a flight of fear (this is self preservation), or when the horse is not doing what they want it to do (lack of communication). But a horse never puts itself in danger on purpose. Think about that for a moment. Also, in the right hands a well trained horse will learn to trust its rider (the leader) even in scary situations (this is wisdom).
Compare mankind. He knowingly and willing puts himself and others in danger by using life destroying, mind altering drugs and alcohol; drinking and driving; smoking, despite the warnings, even after disease has set in (sorry smokers, but it’s a fact); having sex outside the perimeters the Creator as set forth; fighting over territory that isn’t his in the first place (gang violence), etc. Most importantly we fail to trust our Leader, God - the One who has our best interest in mind. The list can go on.
So what am I trying to say? A horse- out of fear- may cause harm to itself by running into a barbed wire fence while running away from the thing that scared it or it may get nervous and upset when it doesn’t understand what is being asked of it, but it never, never, puts itself in danger on purpose. Mankind on the other hand does it all the time. Even when the facts are laid out and the warnings are set forth, they are disregarded in the name of fun, desire, or whatever. So tell me, who’s the stupid one?
For the record I’m not trying to say that mankind is stupid, though I wonder at the decisions we make sometimes. And it wasn’t my intention to preach. I just want us to think before we call a horse stupid. They truly are not.
Life has been really busy for me lately which is why I haven't been on this site in a while. I have been riding my horses though. I guess that's a good thing.
I am working on fixing the Horse Approved home site. I hope to have the new site up soon. The community will still be the same with maybe a few color changes.
I hope all is well with you and Happy Holidays!
It's been a busy couple of weeks. The kids started school again so I haven't been riding much. I did get to give my gelding a bath the other day. I think he really enjoyed that. The flies are eating him up this year. I feel so bad for him.
I hope to go riding this weekend. My riding partner hurt her back so I might have to go by myself.
My kids start school this week. It's good and bad. Since I homeschool it means I will have less time for other things.
I enjoy having my kids home but it is time consuming. I am hoping I can work out a schedule that will allow me to have time for my horses.
It's time for the balancing act!! Let the entertainment begin ;o)
"The love for a horse is just as complicated as the love for another human being... If you never love a horse, you will never understand." ~ Author Unknown
I have been getting more opportunities to ride in the evening lately and I really love it. I like the cool evening air and sun disappearing behind the mountains.
This evening I got to ride with my neighbor. My neighbor and I have only ridden together once before and it was a short ride. Today we went all around our neighborhood and the two mares did great together.
Usually my mare is very sensitive about having horses close to her but with this horse she was more tolerant for some reason. Maybe she is getting better about having horses close to her. I might have something to do with me working with her more. She may just becoming a better horse because she feels better about herself.
When I woke up this morning I didn't expect to go riding so I was really excited when I actually did go out. 
I love where I live because I live in a horse community. I often see my neighbors riding their horse in the morning and early morning.
Yesterday, my neighbor across the street decided to go for a quick bareback ride. This neighbor doesn't normally ride her horse so I decided to go out and say hi.
She asked if I wanted to join her. I had just gotten home from being gone all day so I wasn't ready really to go ridign. But it's hard to say no when you don't get to ride very often with other people.
I told her I would see what I could do about getting ready. Thankfully I have been working with my mare a lot lately and her mind is pretty much always ready to listen to me. So I put the rope halter on her and tied the lead to make reins like I normally do and hopped on her.
All my neighbor and I did was go down our street a bit and turn around and come back but it was still fun all the same. My neighbor didn't want to go to far riding bareback. Both horses did great. Her did very well for having not been out in a while. She got a little antsy at the end but made it all the way home with owner still on her back.
It was a lot of fun to be able to do that. I really enjoy riding with other people. I am so proud of my mare for doing so well. She has really been improving and I just love that horse.
I went on an evening ride with a friend and I had a lot of fun. I really wish I could do that more often. The evening air was cool and good for riding in. We met up with another lady riding her horse. It's always fun to talk and ride with other horse people.
My mare did really well. All the work I have been putting into her has really been paying off. She was responsive and great to ride. 
You never know where you’re going to find words of wisdom. I have recently come across two little nuggets of thought from the oddest places. I found one on a square box of sticky notes and the other came from a rerun of a sitcom I was watching last night. I love words of wisdom and I try to remember them when I’m frustrated or discouraged. Sometimes I make posters out of them and hang them in my office or on the refrigerator.
It seems I can always relate something to horses, which drives my youngest daughter crazy. It’s funny how the lessons God has been trying to teach me seamlessly interrelate. Life lessons relate to horsemanship; horse lessons relate to life lessons. Of course, it’s usually the other way around. God teaches me a spiritual truth while I’m interacting with a horse that I can apply to my life. It is at those moments that I have no doubt that this is the very reason he brought them into my life. What a beautiful way to get more of my attention.
Anyway, the first thought I found several months ago on the square box of sticky notes. I keep it where I can always see it. It reads, “Some people dream of success…while others wake up and work hard at it” . I have been a dreamer all my life. I even have a theme song. This is going to date me a bit, but the lyrics were, “ I guess I’ll always be a dreamer, dreaming my life away; dreaming my life away. And nothing comes but sleep to dreamers and when you wake up the dream is gone away” . These are the only words I remember to the song. Whenever I feel tired and lazy and like I’m not accomplishing anything I hear this song in my head. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming (at any age), but we must wake up and get moving if we expect them to become reality (constant reminder to self).
The second thought was spoken by the neighbor on the sitcom Home Improvement. He said, “ A thousand mile journey starts with a single step” . I contemplated that for a moment and again I thought of my relationship with the horses. With them I have learned the importance of taking a step at a time. Before horses came into my life I was impatient and wanted things to happen now. Taking small steps was not my cup of tea.
As a youth I thought I would have a successful singing career and be financially set by the age of 21. Haha. What a joke. The problem was I had two major issues to overcome; fear of failure and impatience. They were vicious sources of frustration in my life. I wanted success now, but I was too afraid to even take a step. The fear stemmed from a desire to be perfect. I didn’t want to mess up and I especially didn’t want to do it in front of anyone. I was afraid of looking stupid or ignorant in front of them. So for many years I did little or nothing at all toward reaching my dream. I have since learned that I can’t expect perfection out of an imperfect being (only God is perfect). I am only expected to do my best in all that I do.
God had been working on me for years on these two issues through different scenarios (what can I say-I’m a slow learner). He eventually led me down a path that would take this city girl into a life with horses. Coincidence? I think not. What perfect teachers. After all, what are two of the most important things in dealing with horses? Are they not, overcoming fear (ours and/or theirs) and patience?
God’s word speaks of hard work, fear, patience and perseverance. Isn’t it interesting how many things He will use to help us get the message? What is He trying to whisper to you today? Keep your ears and your heart open and you will hear Him. May you and your horses have an awesome day together.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10
God has used many things in my life to teach me His truths. I have had a glimpse of His unconditional love through my relationships with my husband, my children, and my animals. He has used one particular animal the most to teach me about trusting Him, about overcoming fear, about taking one step at a time to reach goals, and about patience. That animal is my Arab mare.
She is incredibly intelligent (I have no doubt that she could be doing so much more than what I ask of her), she prefers the company of humans to horses, she's is very sweet, and she's a joy to ride. Unfortunately, she has another side; a stubborn side, and she can put a lot of energy into saying no.
There is a lot of background history that I won't bore anyone with (besides this blog post would be way too long if I did). So to make a long story short, trailer loading was one of our challenges. The last time I loaded her in a trailer was about two years ago when I was picking her up to bring her home. She had been with friends for about 3 to 4 years (that's another story). Trying to use resistence free training methods I had learned, it took over two hours to get her loaded, which ended in loading her with one person at her head and a person on each side of the trailer holding the end of a long lunge line that was wrapped once around the polls on each door, to give them leverage and the lunge on her rear and me yelling, "Don't let her back up". This is how it had always ended.
Since she's been home I have been working on a few other things, but not the trailer loading until now. And this is where, once again, God showed me His faithfulness and that His promises are true. As I was working with her yesterday I could see that she was trying to do what I wanted, but there also came a point where I felt that I had almost messed up the timing (timing is everything in horse training), so I stopped and began to pray. I asked God for wisdom, I prayed that He would help me with my timing, that He would help her to see me as her leader and not a fearful person, and that He would let me know when it was a good time to stop. I was prepared to except one foot in and end the session if that is what was needed to end on a good note, or to continue until all four feet were in. And of course, I was in no rush. I knew He knew this horse and what she needed so I had to depend on Him to guide me, so that I wouldn't mess things up.
Well, something remarkable happened. Within moments of that prayer she was in the trailer with all four feet. Don't get me wrong she didn't just magically go in. I had to use the techniques I have learned with firmness and confidence to get the job done. Without God's guidance and wisdom, though, I would not have been able to accomplish this obstacle in my life nor would I have had the confidence to do so.
So my lesson for yesterday evening is found in Philipians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". God used a little Arab mare to help solidify this truth in my heart. Thank you Lord.
By the way, she loaded 4 to 5 times and again this morning.
I have a plan to ride a few times a week this summer. I am hoping that I can get out and ride a good hour at least 2-3 times a week. I am hoping I can get together with my neighbor so we can go out together. By going out with someone else I am hoping it will motivate me more to get out.
My kids are almost out of school so I am really excited about having a those daily hours I don't have to worry about school work ( I homeschool my kids ). Anyway, I hoping this plan will stick for the summer.
Anyone else have any goals for the summer?
I haven't ridden is such a long time. I have worked with my horses on an off through the winter but finally hopped on my gelding the other day bareback. It was short but it was still fun. It feels so good be riding again, even if it was just for a short time.