04/26/2026
Sunday Lessons From Horses:
1. It's not over, until it's over..
A friend of mine called me on Monday. She told me that my seventeen hand 20+ yr old Arabian was laying in the field. I told her he always does that.But I will go out and check on him. I went check on him and he was not in good shape. Both his front legs we're swollen to twice their size. He was not responsive and was breathing heavy. So I called the vet. The vet showed up and immediately recommended I put him down. His heart beat and breathing was very shallow. That was a hard no from me. So he gave me some anti inflammatory shots to administer and left. That night, I set my alarm to go out and check on him every couple of hours. He would not stand up or walk.
The next morning he was still alive, and over the next three days of sitting with him, praying over him, even through two cold and rainy nights. He stayed strong. On Wednesday, I thought for sure he was going to die because it started snowing. I got a canopy and set it over him and sat with him for a while. The next morning he looked better. Then, progressively over the next three days he stood up and started eating and now his swelling has gone down and he is back hanging out with the rest of the herd. Ryder is a fighter! We think he got bit by a timber rattler and the poison just needed to work through his system. So Amen.
2. When you get knocked off a horse, the best thing to do is get right back on. I got bashed in the head two weeks a go while breaking a horse. I had surgery and am recovering. Today I got back on. I never really was scared but it's still a good lesson.
3. You can't work with horses until you know how to ride horses. Emily, our therapist, and her husband Kevin got their first weekly lesson today. And did excellent.
