04/17/2024
Beautiful dream some of us can relate to.
https://www.facebook.com/share/taiaN36w8ygnvMdY/?mibextid=WC7FNe
I have had the same dream since I was 4 years old.
I’ve told people around me this for years, have written about it in my journal and talked about it in podcasts, but figured I would put something in writing here, in hopes that I will one day manifest this very dream and be able to look back on my Facebook memories and see this.
Of course, as I’ve matured, so has my vision, it’s become much more complex and nuanced.
But, that dream is to one day own my own farm. A horse farm, of course, but also so much more.
I want to create an environment where myself, and others, can thrive.
A place where I can take on complex horse behaviour cases and offer some of the most difficult and least desirable horses sanctuary.
I want to construct a facility that is set up to host client horses and help bridge that transitional gap from isolated solo paddock turnout to group turnout on a track system. To make it less intimidating for people who aren’t used to it and to make that transition safer and easier for horse and human alike.
Right now, to me, that looks like having an open concept barn with stalls with in/out paddocks, shared fencelines and either half walls in the stalls or bars between all stalls.
It looks like having smaller fields with shared fence lines, adopting “old faithful” type horses who are sweet, kind and well socialized, the perfect friend for the poorly socialized horse.
It looks like other barn like buildings, but sans stall, think a community stable, a building that is one large stall for all horses to share, one they can leave at any time.
It looks like having a diverse track system, complete with different terrains, hills, water features, forests and all sorts of other natural and added enrichment. Something that spans the size of the property, a circuit around it, making the most of the space.
It looks like having the amenities of a fancy barn; the indoor arena, the outdoor arena, trails, derby field etc but with the basic needs of the horse at the forefront of the design, these features are secondary.
It looks like having a smaller arena with a permanently set up reverse round pen because I’m tired of taking mine down and putting it back up 😂
To me, it looks like a sanctuary that I can continue painting an image of, tweaking as I grow and learn and adjusting in accordance with where I move to, but always prioritizing having a perfect home for all of my horses to live out their days.
Lastly, for the people…
I have a dream, a newer one that has come to me in adulthood, of pairing the rehabilitation of horses with behavioural problems with a facility that can help humans who are also struggling with mental health issues, addiction, or are otherwise needing a soft place to land.
For those who are unaware, I have had an intimately close experience with mental health struggles and substance addictions within people I love very much and am acutely aware of how difficult it is to access resources to get help, even when people really want them.
I know how helpless it feels and how hard it is to overcome mental health struggles when so many obstacles are in your path. I want to alleviate the burden.
I have a dream of helping out a faction of people that are so often forgotten about, with accessible treatment extremely lacking here, many of the places available currently being exorbitantly expensive.
I have a dream of using the healing power of horses to reach people who need to feel seen, heard and safe. I hope to pair that with the expertise of mental health professionals and more traditional treatment strategies structured by people more educated than I.
Of creating a “home” for people who haven’t felt at home anywhere. A place they can rest a while before continuing on with their life journey when they’re no longer exhausted with the everyday.
A home for horses who aren’t as likely to find one. The old ones, the broken ones, the elderly mustangs rounded up in their late teens or twenties…
I hope to create the sanctuary that I wish I had access to when I needed it.
A place where I can do the most to help the horses who need it.
A place where I can feel safe and offer sanctuary to those who need it.
A place that is truly mine.
Somewhere I can put down deep roots, because for years, I have felt like a potted plant.
Never able to fully settle where I am due to the acute awareness that it isn’t really mine and could be stripped away at any point.
That anything permanent that I put the finances and energy into building will never really be mine to keep, because ultimately, I’m not meant to stay there.
I have a dream that I have painted out in detail in my minds eye.
And I hope, with a little persistence and a lot of deep belief in manifesting what I hope to achieve, that I will actually be able to grasp this dream, or some semblance of it, in reality.
I’ve had the same dream since I was 4 years old.
And I’m closer to it than I have been ever before.
I’ve managed to grasp things I’ve wanted with all my heart, for so many years.
And I intend to grasp this.
