Ever since I was a little girl, I had a thing for horses. I learned to ride at an early age. One of my earliest memories is of falling off the back of a horse and getting the wind knocked out of me. (That was awful!) But then I got back on and rode again.
When I was about six, I won a blue ribbon for riding in a little country fair when I was about 6. I remember because my older brother, who was always so good at everything he did, got a red ribbon, and couldn’t understand why he didn’t get a blue ribbon, too.
As I grew my bicycle became my steed. I would imagine myself galloping across the fields with my hair whipping behind me as I furiously pedaled home after playing at a friend’s house.
In 6th grade, my dad gave me a horse for Christmas. She was not much to look at – underweight and older (he got her from an auction for $50) – but wow, she was the most beautiful thing in the world to me!
By the time I was in 7th grade, I knew all of the different types of horses, and their body parts. I knew the names of the different parts (and kinds) of saddles and bridles, and horsey equipment.
The Washington International Horse Show in DC was a favorite annual trip.
The Black Stallion was my absolute FAVORITE book in the world. I’d read it a hundred times. Other horse books were frequent reads in my world: Black Beauty taught me about what happens in so many horses’ lives (and always made me sad), Smokey, the Cowhorse, similar to Black Beauty, but based on life in the West, and of course the perennial favorite, Misty of Chincoteague.
But then came 9th grade and 4 years of boarding school. Horses weren’t something I had any access to.
By the time I graduated, my dad had sold Strawberry (my horse) and I was determined to get another one. Instead of buying a car, I bought a horse. (That pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?) That lasted until I realized I couldm’t afford both him and rent (or food for us both). I found him a lovely home, and “grew up.”
That was 40 years ago.
This week, I rescued a horse. I’ve been following horse rescue places for quite a while, and I contribute financially to a number of them, all the while dreaming of the day when I could rescue my own horse(s).
This week, it happened, very unexpectedly.
He’s a Belgian gelding in Pennsylvania (I live in Florida) and I bought him from a kill pen (he was going to be shipped to slaughter that night) because my intuition said “yes.” This beauty reached all the way through my computer into my heart and said “please rescue me.”
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(Here he is, 2 months later, happily being boarded in Pennsylvania)
I couldn’t say no.
My left brain has been kicking and screaming since my heart said yes, and each step of the way I’m having to soothe my concerns.
Each step of the way, I’m remembering Black Beauty and Smokey. This was for them.
If I didn’t have my business, there is no way I’d have been able to do this. Owning our own business allows us to create the lives we want, to fulfill on the dreams we have deep in our hearts. It takes time to build a business, yes, but once you’ve put those systems into place, made the connections and created the clients (and the team), your business is pretty smooth sailing.
Every day, I am grateful for my business. It has allowed us to rescue kitties (we currently have 6!) and now our first horse.
If you’ve been working in your business for a while and not having the success you want, please don’t give up. For whatever reason, there’s something there for you to learn or work through. That’s just the process we all go through.
There were so many times I wanted to quit. And each time, I dug a little deeper and kept going. This week, in particular, I am so flippin’ glad I didn’t. (So is my Belgian Beauty.)
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