The Search Begins

After a few rides in my brand new saddle, it wasn’t long that I began to do the one thing I had promised myself and my parents I wouldn’t. I had gone back on my promise and starting begging my mother for a horse.

“Please, please, please, Mom,” I pleaded in a desperate tone. “Will you just think about letting me take this next step?”

 She would quietly laugh and say, “I knew this was coming,” and go on about her day.  Little did she know I already had a plan in the works. Every night I would come home from the barn, run up to my room and excitedly begin searching various websites of horses for sale. I was extremely discrete about this operation and didn’t want to rush it. I would wait and tell her about my nightly routine when I came across an ad that was worth looking into. A few months latter, I thought I had found the one. It was for a flea bitten appaloosa gelding (flea bitten refers to the markings on his body, not to a horse infested with parasites!). He was a good age… not too young that he was still green, but old enough to have many years of potential left in him. My heart was racing at the thought of actually having to show my mom this find. I mean, this wasn’t like asking for a hamster or even a dog; this was a living, breathing animal the size of a small truck. This was an investment that would take hours of physical labor and care and most importantly, a huge financial commitment. Knowing all of this, I was ready to take on the task wholeheartedly.

 I had worked a full time job the year after high school and had saved every penny of my salary. I had also saved every bit of graduation, birthday, and Christmas money ever received, so I was ready and willing to make the biggest financial commitment of my life. I took a deep breath, said a little prayer, and walked into the room to face my mom. Anyone that knows me knows that when I get excited and nervous, I start laughing ridiculously. My mom knows me better than anyone, and she immediately knew the wheels were turning in my mind.

 “What do you want?” she asked as I handed her a folded up piece of paper hidden in my pocket.

“Please just let me explain everything to you before you give me your answer,” I nervously began. “And promise you won’t be mad and say NO right off.  Please just think about it. OK? “

She sighed, knowing she would never hear the end of it unless I had my say.

“Go ahead,” Mom patiently replied.

“Well, you know, many of the riders at the barn have their own horses,  and I think it would be ideal for me to have a horse of my own, too, simply because I could go out to the barn and ride any time I wanted and for as long as I wanted, and do you know how good it would be for me to have the chance to ride every day? Can you imagine the strength I would gain?” I could barely catch my breath as I rambled on, 100 miles a minute, giving her thousands of reasons for why this was a brilliant idea.

“Look,” I stated eagerly, as I pointed at the picture on the ad I had given her. “I have already found a possible candidate.”

 She paused for a few moments as she pondered the massive amount of information I had just thrown at her, and then came something I never imagined. She looked at the ad, then looked up at me and said “OK. I don’t see why we can’t just go look.”

I just about fell on the floor in complete and utter shock.

“WHAT????” I screamed, “Are you SERIOUS?”

 “Yes, you have shown that you are committed to the sport. I think that if you are going to be riding continually, you are going to need a horse that knows your specific needs and will carry you through this journey for years to come.  I will call and set up the appointment.”

I sat there stunned for a moment, then hugged her neck, never wanting to let go.

I like to think that in certain moments, God shows us little glimpses of heaven. This was one of those moments.

I experience this feeling every time I am on the back of a horse. The way it feels when I am trotting around the arena, with the wind blowing my hair, like I am soaring above the clouds, with the Lord’s precious hand guiding my every direction. It is a moment and a feeling that is completely inexpressible and unexplainable, but I know it is the Lord at work.  And I believe it is for moments like these that God created horses.