I Am A Proud & Grateful ‘Horsewoman’

I consider myself a horsewoman. It has been a vital part of my identity from the moment I purchased my first horse at 18 years old & worked to put myself through college while supporting him, then another. 

While other young people were going away for college, I stayed near home so that I could live my horsey life. Everyday before classes, I drove out to feed them. I attended classes in jeans and cowboy boots. When my classes were finished, I studied or worked as a tutor in the English Lab, then drove back out to ride, clean stalls (if they weren’t on pasture), and give them their evening feed. After that, I’d drive home, dress up for my job serving tables at a local restaurant, then back home to study again, sleep, and repeat. 

I wasn’t the best horsewoman back then, but I was trying my hardest to figure it out, and I have learned with time that we’re never good enough. We’re not God. We can’t prevent every bad thing from happening. As it was, my two horses survived just fine, and I raised them up to be great horses for other people. 

Mistakes and all, it is one of the times of my life for which I am most proud. 

So, what are the qualities of a horsewoman? 

Have a heart for horses. 

Be thankful everyday for the privilege of feeding them morning and night, grooming their beautiful bodies, breathing in their glorious smell. Kiss their sweet muzzles while you still can.  Sing praises as you clean stalls and feather their beds with pine shavings. Learn to listen, hear and understand what they are trying to say to you. Lessen their worries, their pain, their fears and burdens. When they pass, think of them everyday and let the love you have for them fill your heart again. 

A horsewoman has to keep going for her horses. She has to keep growing, too. When she falls down, she has to pick herself back up quickly, dust herself off, learn a lesson, and move on. She has to forgive and let go her hold of grudges, emptying whatever unhealthy thoughts and feelings are there in order to approach her horses with a clean slate and an open mind and heart. 

A horsewoman has to be strong, even when she’d rather be weak, because her horses expect that of her. 

Here’s to all you horsewomen out there and your horses, past and present. What a glorious life we will have to look back upon when it’s all over. 

Thanks to our horses.