With all the insanity of the up coming election, people are taking stands for both sides, and the discussions are getting heated.  One candidate promises Sunshine, Lollipops, and Roses.  The other sends the message that we are done with this and we’re taking America back.  I love the thought of Camelot and everything will be beautiful, but I myself have a habit of laying all my cards on the table and being ready to come out fighting.  Gets me in trouble often, but everyone always knows what I am thinking, and what I’m going to do about it.

I saw a picture of my friend Nancy the other day.  She was sitting on her horse and had the biggest smile.  That’s how I remember her when we hunting together, and practicing for hunt teams.  It brought me to thinking of the past.

As a child of the 50’s I always remember people talking about the “American Dream.”  A little house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, a Collie running in the front yard, and a station wagon in the driveway.  Kids played out side with their friends until the street lights came on, Dad went to work and mom stayed home and baked cookies.  My childhood wasn’t quite that way, but it was secure and comfortable.

Our world has turned upside down.  All of that American Dream has faded from existence, but there is one thing in our lives that remains the same – Our Horses.  Oh yes there are days we go to the barn and they are full of lumps, bumps, cuts, swollen legs, eye lids hanging off, but they are there, and they are happy to see us.  We can venture back in time to our quiet place.  Their touch, the smell, the ears that move back and forth, bring us into a world that doesn’t exist outside the barn.  We become grounded and secure again.  Nothing away from that place can harm us, at that moment.  Some people escape into the story of a romance novel.  We, as horse people escape into the existence of our horse.

Sometimes we bring the days worries and stresses to the barn with us, but usually by the time we leave, we are calm and stress free again.  We are ready to go out and face our giants.  The saying “My Horse Is My Therapist” is oh so true.  Horses don’t say a whole lot, but they listen and give us a sense of balance in our lives once more.

They always say you can’t go home again, and usually they are right.  BUT, we can go to the barn, put our arms around our horses neck, and get the reassurance again that everything will be just fine, as long as we can reach out and touch them.

We are a blessed group of people, we have horses to keep us in touch with God’s creation, which grounds us.  We as horse people, we know what Camelot truly is.

(Camelot – a place where truth, goodness, and beauty reigns there.)