It's time for another
Path of Positivity Post!
Usually my blog is a place where I share a project and describe all the details of said layout, card, canvas, etc. Recently I have taken to a challenge blog where the idea is to share a project inspired by a positive theme. The theme for July is "sharing." In this process, I personally enjoy telling my story as well as showing the inspired project.
So, grab a cup of coffee or a nice cold lemonade and join me for some thoughts!
I love quotes and I'm constantly combing the internet for quotes to use in cards and layouts. As I was thinking about the idea of "sharing" I found this quote:
"Gaining knowledge, is the first step to wisdom. Sharing it, is the first step to humanity." - Unknown
I was out working in the barn. Now for those of you who have done lots of barn work, you know much of the work is done by rote and there is not a lot of thought needed. Therefore, the mind wanders to many different ideas, lists, random thoughts.....well, you get the idea. I have to admit, many of my creative ideas are born out there. Maybe that explains why so many of my projects are nature/animal related!
I thought about some of the most selfless acts of sharing I'd seen. Then it came to me......5 of the 6 horses in my barn! Yes, they must be the most selfless souls. Now, this brings me back around to the quote.
Are humans the only beings able to share?
Working in the field of therapeutic horsemanship, my answer would have to be a resounding, "No!"
I can tell you story after story of amazing things I've seen these guys do! They have an innate sense to live as herds and look after each other. They figure out ways to get out of work, get back in the herd leader's good graces, and avoid confrontation. They truly seem to want to be "community type" creatures who quickly learn to include humans in that community and vise versa.
I realize there are animal trainers out there who would say the domesticated horses are only acting the way they have been taught to behave through means of negative reinforcement. Others would say I am simply exhibiting personification or anthropomorphism (the act of giving human qualities to animals, objects, etc.) Yet others reading this will insist on coincidence and the imaginings of naive children.
Ok, this all being said, I want to share an incredible story about one amazing mare who lived in our barn. Her given name was Doc's Silver Burro, but everyone called her Pony. I say everyone because I think she belonged to just about every horse person in our county before she eventually ended up in our barn!
Now, Pony was NOT a pony, she was a horse; she was named Pony by the first little girl who owned her. Pony originally was a prize winning reigning horse who was retired and sold for young kids to ride. This mare seemed to go from barn to barn teaching and sharing her knowledge with kids of multiple generations. She was a gentle, flea-bitten grey horse. (Note to non-horse people: That basically means she was white with specks all over here. This color of horse is born white and the specks turn darker with age. So when these horses are young they have a white appearance. Important detail for later in the story!)
Pony came to live with us after our big Quarter Horse had dumped our son, Keith, for the 'umpteenth' time. Keith's confidence was shattered and he refused to get on a horse ever again. We took Pony and Keith to a western trainer where they worked together for a short summer before it was time to fully retire Pony due to some serious arthritis. Her pain worsened and not long after we had to make that decision no one wants to make.
During that summer we saw the mare struggle in the pasture, but anytime Keith would go to get her she would put on her "game face" and rise to the occasion. He would saddle her and put on the bridle and she would stand proud. Her movement was graceful, sound and balanced. Her frame was impeccable! He gained confidence, but she had to leave him before he was ready to ride another horse.
The fall and winter were difficult for Keith, but by the next spring he seemed ready to get on another horse. He went to the trainer and rode beautifully. The trainer asked how he knew many of the things he was doing. His reply was, "I just know." We were all perplexed and a few lessons later the trainer asked him to do something she knew he didn't know.
He did it with ease and smiled at her. She looked at me and asked if he had taken other lessons over the winter and I told her he had not. Finally he said, "I had lessons
all winter!" We both looked at this 10 year old boy as if he were crazy. He continued with this statement, "Pony has been teaching me all winter. She came to me at night in dreams. She was so beautiful, young, muscled, white, and sparkled. She showed me new things and I just knew how to do them in the dreams. Then she just stopped coming when I started lessons on this horse."
The trainer cried because she had once owned this horse and it was her own daughter who had named the horse Pony. She knew the sharing nature of this mare.
Fast forward 10 or so years. We now have a sweet little grand girl who came to us through marriage; she is the light of our lives! We were sitting around the campfire one evening when I told her she had a great ride that day! I asked her how she knew how to do something? I was actually just kidding around with her when she replied, "I did it in a dream!" Her Uncle Keith (now in his early 20's) looked at her with the biggest grin. He knew what was coming. I had to ask. She replied, "I rode the most beautiful white horse with sparkly diamonds all over her! She showed me how to ride fast and not be afraid anymore! I love her!"
Yes, Old Pony was still sharing her gifts with children who needed her. Her selfless act reminds me of the Dalai Lama quote,
"Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality." Pony still lives in the hearts and minds of all those children she taught to love, respect and ride horses! Her compassionate, sharing nature cannot be matched.
Yes, here is a horse, an equine creature, livestock who took many steps toward humanity; or maybe it is we as humans who take the steps to achieve what many other creatures already know as the act of sharing.
Oh yeah, and what do I think flea bitten grey horses look like in heaven!? My guess is they are white and sparkle like diamonds!
My layout is off to:
Path of Positivity: Sharing
Sketchabilities: Sketch
Lasting Memories: Together
Thanks for stopping by to visit today! Make yourself at home and checkout other posts, ask a question or leave me a comment if you like!
