This morning it was like a tropical storm outside. I opened my laptop to distract myself from laundry when my calendar app popped up a reminder: it was Steele's birthday. He would have been 5 years old. I had totally forgotten that I had put that on my calendar. I was not distraught by the reminder but it was a gut punch and I allowed myself a few tears. I then went to visit a friend and she was a welcome distraction- drinking tea and catching up. When I returned home I sighed and ate some lunch and tried to figure out what to do for the rest of the day.
I looked out the window and saw the sun bravely trying to peek out from the clouds. I waited an hour and the rain did not come back. I changed into my riding gear and got Carmen tacked up. We walked up to the ring and during our ground work she was calm and steady. I mounted and we began our work. She stayed tuned into me through the entire ride. Not that she wasn't worried about some areas but it really was negligible. As I rode I was brought back to my first ride together when I tried her out. I felt that same lift in my heart and excitement about the potential. When we were done my soul felt soothed.
The universe gave me a gift with the break in the weather. Carmen gave me a gift of a lovely ride. Having horses in my life is a real gift. Having had Steele for the time I did was a joy. I would prefer him to be here- alive, whole and driving me crazy with his antics. But I refuse to allow his death to take away the gift that he was. My life is richer because of Irish, Carmen and Steele.
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| run free my love |
That's a beautiful tribute! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteTeresa, you are so blessed! I live in a big city (Montreal) so it is not a place to be able to have a horse. I have had cats all my life and I consider myself quite an animal lover. About an hour's bus ride from me, there is what I call a horse farm. It is a farm setting but they have some deer, goats, a few geese and a couple of dogs, but they have a very large amount of horses...perhaps 30? Anyway, it is actually a horseback riding school, and the horses are all beautiful and well fed and cared for, which makes me very happy to see, and I love to visit there whenever I can. They allow me to look around and I came across one horse in particular that just allowed me to stroke him/her for the longest time. I spoke softly to him and told him he was beautiful. I believe that animals, even though they may not understand all the words we say, they definitely understand our tone of voice and touch, thus being able to tell if we are kind or not. This was the best and longest time I had ever been able to spend with a horse (a good 10 minutes) and I was very touched by the experience.
ReplyDeleteYou refuse to let his death take away the gift--that is wisdom. <3
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Steele! I think you honoured his birthday beautifully. :)
ReplyDeleteSteele was such a character, and so handsome <3
ReplyDeleteHis gift was that you were his person. He was so loved by you. <3
thank you everyone.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written. Big hugs.
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