01/06/2025
Preserving the Awe
The pic below is my very first horse, my sorrel Quarter horse mare (She was two or three years old when this was taken). I named her King’s Peppy Deb—I’d studied her papers. My family had suffered a devastating house fire before I got her. In the middle of the night, we all managed to escape the inferno except for my grandma. She lost her life that day. 😔
Grandma had a savings account with $4000 in it, and my parents decided to split it evenly among us four kids. Of course, I used my $1000 to buy this first horse, a yearling filly. She cost me a whopping $400. The rest of the money went to buying tack and paying her board for a year ($40/month)—that was the deal I made with my parents. I so hope that Grandma’s spirit was glad to see it. She was sewing me a riding jacket before she passed.
I worked full time every summer from then on to help support my horse habit and also helped out at the stable. One memory lives in my heart—the first day I walked into the barn to spend time with MY horse. I had nothing but love yet that day—had to borrow a brush from someone else just to groom her.
There on her stall door hung a brand new leather halter with a bright white cotton leadrope clipped to it. There was a note taped to the door with it—a simple congratulations, and saying “you’ll be needing this.” I had buck teeth as a child and spent five years in braces. I got along great with the orthodontist because he was a horse person. The halter and rope were a gift from Dr. Logan. He was also a man of honor, which my mom told me about years later.
He had told my folks he thought two and a half years would straighten my teeth well enough. They kept meticulous budgets to care for my siblings and me. True to his word, when that time was spent and my teeth were still stubborn, he worked with me another two and a half years, only charging for his supplies, not his work. It was a lesson I carried into adulthood—ethics never go out of style.
Awe—that’s the best word I can use to describe what I felt that first day. You who are horsey will identify. I’d been dreaming of having a horse from before I knew how to spell the word. I fully believe some of us are simply born that way. I led my yearling filly outside and watched in wonder while she grazed on a patch of green grass. I smiled through tears of joy while I brushed her red hair until it shone in the sun. I breathed in the scent of her, loving it.
No matter what journeys I’ve taken with horses, the learning, the disappointments, the frustrations, the successes—through it all I’ve tried never to forget the awe I felt that first day. It signaled a joy I had not known before. I hope I never forget the feeling. I want to remember the awe and wonder of a horse forever.
Do you have a story of horse awe to share with us? Looking forward to it.
💚🐴💙
