Perfect pet? I used to live for riding horses. As a kid I couldn’t wait to go to the riding ranches every weekend. So much so that as I got older I’d volunteer at the ranches just so I could spend more time with them. I didn’t care if it was freezing rain, tons of snow…I was there like clockwork. There was nothing like galloping through a field or jumping over large logs in the forest bareback. It was magical.

But when I got my own horse at 17 years old (I still have him today :))…the need to ride went drastically down. In fact nowadays I don’t ride at all. When I was young and didn’t own my own horse that was the only time I could spend with them so riding was a wonderful way to be at least in their presence. But I realized something long ago that that connection we have with horses isn’t gone when we stop riding them in fact it gets stronger when we just spend some time with them. I used to do a lot of liberty ground work with my Thoroughbred gelding Teddy…we got to the point where I’d have him stand and wait at one side of the arena and ask him to come at a full gallop towards me standing at the other end while jumping over a jump in the middle (he liked to go around the jumps so this was a big deal for him to do at liberty especially). We had fun and it involved no riding at all.

Teddy is almost 26 years old now and still full of spunk and mischief (got him when he was a 3 year old) and now I just like to spend quiet time with him – sitting with him while he grazes or munches on hay or just standing with him doing nothing at all. Often he snuggles in and gives me a gentle nudge and we watch sunsets or sunrises together. It isn’t what we do…it is the connection we share that is what I treasure the most. Teddy is a very special horse. When I used to board him out and he was in danger or hurt he would literally come to me in my dreams. I’d dream of him being kicked or attacked by another horse or being trapped somewhere with no way back home. And when I’d get to the barn I’d see exact wound marks or situations that I saw in my dreams. I’d promptly help him and he knew I would.

We are linked in a very special way. I am often saddened that some people miss out on the very thing they are after when they ride their horses. The special connection where the horses follows you anywhere and has complete trust in you. I believe every person can have that with their horse or any animal for that matter. But we must let go of expectations and conditions. The conditions of ‘if the horse goes lame I must get another and sell this one’ or that horses have to have a job or they are worthless. It is these limitations that prevent us from fully getting that relationship with our horses that most of us desire. I think it is this need to have that ‘special’ horse that we connect with is the same reason people dump their current horses when they don’t get it…because they hope to get it in another…the perfect horse must be out there.

Well I have news for you…the perfect pet whether a horse, cat or dog is the one you already have. I believe the come to us for a reason. To teach us things. The difficult ones teach us the most. My horse Teddy was one of THE hardest horses I’ve been around. He used to bite, kick, rear and be very stubborn. He knocked off every rider at the track and left them with broken bones. But I promised him something…I promised him the day I took him into my family 23 years ago…no matter what he does or doesn’t do he will ALWAYS have a home with me and will never be given up. Not ever…and he in turn gave me his trust and a connection I will forever treasure. So I may not ride my horses. I may not even ask them to do anything at all but the connection I have with them is priceless!