A unicorn named Annie
I have always lived a life in which I did not get much time to be around horses. It is like being in the south, people don’t want to share or let you around horses unless you have $80 for an hour lesson. Well that just was not a possibility when you grew up and all your parents money went to the divorce of the century. I always longed to have a horse of my own and learn how to be a true cowgirl. Well, here I am 27 and still only learning how to truly ride.
Over the last year I had the unique ability to drive past a barn and see that they had just opened up a therapeutic riding facility. What the hell is a therapeutic riding facility? We take ridings of all abilities and teach them how to ride. It is truly a unique experience and we get to meet some really cool individuals accomplish their dreams or a dream they never even thought possible. While this is really cool, I often forget how healing these creatures truly are.
In the last several months, I have gone through quite a bit – loss of my job, possible loss of my career, loss of my father, and unable to graduate with my master’s in May. It put me in a horrible funk and I was honestly ready to get up and hit the road and move to a city where it was fresh and new and no one knew me. It was such an inviting idea, but I had someone that was counting on me to get a riding facility up and running. I had grown distant from the program owner and little did I know the relationship was almost non-existent. I finally reached out to her and apologized for my behavior and lack of dedication. She and I was able to talk things out and I went up there and met this new beautiful mare named Annie.
Like most of the horses we have, they were all left out and broken and ready to be sold for meat or be left back in the pasture with no one to love. Humans are so much like horses and we live lives that are similar. From what we can tell, Annie used to be a driving horse, probably for the Amish. Annie was meant to work, so she did not get a lot of loving time in. While this is not a wrong way of life, it is a way of life not many of us would want our pets to live. Annie is only 15 and we found her auction. Auction is a place horses that are too old or too broken to work go. Typically they are sold per the pound for horse meat. Yes, horse meat. You might be asking Annie is still middle age, why was she being sold? Simply because she had the horse version of COPD. She struggles to breathe and therefore she would no longer make a good horse to drive, so she is useless. While my program owner decided to take a risk on her and bringing her into our program, Annie also took a risk on me.
Annie is teaching me to learn to love again. She is actually bonded with another mare half her size and it is quite adorable. Annie has learned to trust me as I’m learning to trust her. She is nearly 2,000 pounds of big horse and could easily throw me off while I’m riding her. Remember, she is a horse meant to be driven, not ridden, so it is a learning experience for both of us. While Annie is a huge giant, she is also a gentle lovable beast that has given me hope when times are extremely dark. I thought my life was truly crumbling before me and I was looking to make a drastic life and career change. Annie taught me this was not necessary and to remember to still trust people and not everyone is horrible in this world. Annie truly is a Unicorn.
While Annie will not be mine, as made clear by the program owner, she wants Annie, I know Annie has allowed me to bond to her regardless of who’s name is on the paperwork. That is really all I need to know. I think her and I will continue to heal each other as we continue to grow as one unit rather than two and I can only hope she continues to touch other lives as they come through our program.