Fulfilled

I've had "work with horses" on my prayer list for about 15 years now. And it's been about 10 years since I've been around them extensively. Can't find a good barn to save my life. But at this retreat we went on, God did an unexpected thing.
I'd emailed ahead and requested working with the horses but was told "they are all out to pasture for the season". I told Kiki that there would be no horses available on this trip.

Then we got there.


Even though we couldn't "work" with them, we could BE with them. And being with them meant pressing our faces into their sides and taking deep satisfying breathes of their delicious coats, and stroking their velvet noses, and feeling the warm air blow out of their delicate nostrils. It was desire fulfilled.


The herd has acres and acres to roam in, unhaltered, unfettered, and they were the most content horses I've ever been around.
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You'd think they'd wander all over their acreage, but mostly they were happy to stay in the first few acres, close to where the people were. When they weren't grazing, they were resting in the shade under one of the shelters.
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The youngest was Winchester. Fourteen months old.
He was the typical youth and the older horses put up with his playful shenanigans. But when they'd had enough they'd nip him away with a "stop it!". I was reminded of the car ride here.
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They liked us. These weren't overworked trail horses at a kids camp. These were a cared for and specially selected herd that liked people.
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Except for Sawyer. For some reason, one of the mares of the herd identified Sawyer as a pesky youth, similar to the yearling, Winchester. Even though Sawyer was just calmly stroking her as she grazed, she suddenly stretched her neck out full length with her mouth open and snapped at him. His eyes got as big as saucers and he started running away, his little arms pumping like pistons and his knees high-stepping. Of course I couldn't capture it on film, but every third stride he'd peek over his shoulder and see something like this after him...

Have you ever seen a mad goose chase a child? It reminded me of that. We all froze for a second because we couldn't believe it and then my mother's instinct took over. I stepped in front of the mare and yelled, "HO!" with my arms raised. She quickly backed off.

Sawyer stayed outside of the fence after that. Needless to say, he was a little wary. Here is his account of the story....


To interpret: "She was chasing me! You! You little stinker!"

Even though this story sounds horrifying, it didn't ruin our time with the horses because I could attribute it to the normal signals horses give each other when they are annoyed. If it were my horse I would have taken additional steps. But we were content to let it go, and enjoy the rest of the day.
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The herd had a dust hole they loved to wallow in.
He's saying, "That looks good. I need to do that."
And he promptly did.
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If you've never seen a horse roll, it's worth it. It almost makes you wish you could do it too.
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He's done with his roll, and on the way up. I like this shot because it captures how powerful his muscles are. You seldom get a chance to see this power unless they are at a run, and then it's too fast to get details. These are big beasts that command respect.
It was fun to teach Kiki some basic horsemanship about how to stay safe around them.
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She loved it. We're hoping it'll happen again soon. Somehow, somewhere. God is full of surprises.