The One with My Musings

When it comes down to it, there are just no guarantees in the horse world. I read a quote the other day that exemplifies this thought: “Horses are just a form of white collar gambling.” How true!! We spend our time, physical energy, emotions, and money on these creatures, and we’re not even guaranteed that our hearts won’t be broken along the way. In fact, we are pretty much guaranteed that our lives will be filled with turmoil, disappointment, discouragement, heartbreak, and misfortune.

As we are only days away from the ’08 Olympics in Hong Kong, I cannot help but feel the disappointment of those that have come so close to the end of their goal, but not entirely made it. Perhaps the most emotionally charged story for me is the loss of the super pony Theodore O’Connor (ironically ridden by Karen O’Connor – no relation of course!). Lost not because he didn’t qualify, or didn’t win over the hearts of every horseman (eventer and non), but because of a freak accident at home. An accident that could have happened to any horse – but of all horses (!), it happened to him. I know I am not alone in saying that Karen’s loss is incredibly palpable; I feel it almost as my own. (Perhaps it’s because I see so much of Teddy in my own three year old – Sudi.)

But Karen’s story doesn’t end there. She’s working on her own happy ending, albeit slightly altered. She has made it to her fourth Olympic Team. Perhaps not on the horse she first dreamed, but she made it on a horse very special in his own right: Mandiba. Karen and her fantastic groom Max have worked with Mandiba from the very beginning, and in the span of three - four years of riding, he has made it to the Olympics - and safely. WOW! – How utterly amazing! These victories and moments are, what I believe, what we LIVE for in the horse world.

Not all victories and moments are the type of the colossal achievement of being named to an Olympic Team though. Some moments come from the joy gleaned by your horse galloping up to you in sheer excitement to see you. Others come from the first time you get on a horse, or the first time you canter, to completing your first horse show, your first jump, your first cross country course, your first dressage test, your first hunter course, your first hunt, watching your child ride for the first time, or your green horse finally grasp a concept, or a foal being born. I, personally, find watching my horse happily graze or go on walks brings me much joy and is a great stress relief at the end of a long day.

This is why we’re here in the horse world: because horses have an intrinsic magnetic quality that refuses to let us go. These moments, and most likely the small ones which sustain us, are worth EVERY bit of heartache and pain that may come along the way.

I am SO blessed to have the horses in my life that I do. It is by God’s grace that these remarkable animals grace me with their presence. They are God’s gifts – that He gave, and He can, of course, take away. While I may never know His reasons for allowing disappointment, I can rest assured in the knowledge that He allows EVERYTHING for a reason. There was a reason He decided to take Teddy, there is a reason we don’t achieve the goals for which we’re striving, there is a reason my horse got his abscess. No matter what, though, God is in control, and He is working everything out for the good of those that love Him (and their horses, of course *grin*).