This is a new page I've decided to add to my farm site. When out in the barn mucking stalls, or putsing around the paddocks, I get lost in my thoughts often and sometimes I just want to share those thoughts. At times they may be farm related, at others times maybe not.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - -

- - - -

-

Many people often ask just why I love my horses. There are many reasons I could give them but here is a beautiful statement...

The Horse

You cannot remain unmoved by the

gentleness and conformation of a

well-bred and well-trained horse;

more than a thousand pounds of big-boned,

well-muscled animal, slick of coat and

sweet of smell, obedient and mannerly,

and yet forever a menace with its

innocent power and ineradicable inclination

to seek refuge in flight, and

always a burden with its need to be fed,

wormed and shod, with its liability to

cuts and infections, to laming and heaves.

But when it greets you with a nicker,

nuzzles your chest, and regards you

with a large and liquid eye, the question

of where you want to be and what you

want to do has been answered.

-Unknown-

From my smallest mini to my largest horse - they are all so special in their own right. They all have their stories and I love them all for who they are. I would do anything for them - and all the farm residents!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - -

- - - -

-

I have recently had some life changing situations and some pretty outstanding people have been there to keep me grounded and help when it's most needed. Those special people remind me of a poem I was given 25 years ago which has always stayed with me - and something I truly live by. Read and enjoy...

WHAT IS A FRIEND?

What is a friend? I will tell you.

It is a person with whom you dare to be yourself.

Your soul can be naked with her.

She seems to ask of you to put on nothing,

only to be who you are.

She does not want you to be better or worse.

When you are with her, you feel as a prisoner feels

who has been declared innocent.

You do not have to be on your guard.

You can say what you think, so long as it is genuinely you.

She understands those contradictions in your nature that

cause others to misjudge you.

With her you can breathe freely.

You avow your little vanities and envies and hates

and vicious sparks, your meannesses and absurdities and,

in opening them up to her, they are lost, dissolved on the

white ocean of her loyalty.

She understands.

You do not have to be careful.

You can abuse her, neglect her, tolerate her.

Best of all, you can be still with her.

It makes no matter. She likes you –

She is like fire that purges to the bone.

She understands.

You can weep with her, sin with her,

laugh with her, pray with her.

Through it all – and underneath – she sees,

knows and loves you.

A friend?

What is a friend?

Just one, I repeat,

with whom you dare to be yourself.

~anonymous~