At Our Best

I love watching how people change when they spend time with horses. It can be a magical thing.

Sometimes the best part is watching as the person realizes they always had many wonderful qualities. The horse just helped bring those qualities out for all to see.

To paraphrase Churchill, he was right…there really is something about the horse…

15 thoughts on “At Our Best”

  1. Jeannette Jones

    I love horses and riding them! Started about 8 yo (1956) and last rode, Summer 2020! Currently looking for hobby farm to buy for couple horses, goats, chickens…..

  2. Jana Fischer

    I find your messages so interesting . Thank you for sharing them. I have had horses for 60 years and truly the outside of a horse is good for the inside of man. And, the inside of the horse is good for man. A relationship with them is a meeting of 2 souls.

    1. Thanks Jana. I’m glad you find them interesting. I should have used the entire Churchill quote…thanks for sharing it here…Enjoy your horses!

  3. Mary

    You are probably going to get messages from people who love cows after hearing this but I’m with you all the way as far as horses go. Brought a tear to my eyes when you talked about the connection and about how much they try to please. Love the weekly videos!

    1. Thanks, Mary…it’s because you are always looking for that connection with your horse. I haven’t heard from any bovine fans yet but like you, I consider it a possibility. Thanks for the support.

  4. Our relationship with animals, all animals, has traditionally been from a mindset of human superiority. Thankfully, science has proved that we too are animals, which has…I don’t know…given us permission?…to change that innate sense of “being better than” an animal to one of “being different from”.

    With this new mindset, our relationship with another animal encourages a basic honesty which satisfies our own self-integrity and allows us both to feel heard (as opposed to herd, LOL!). We can allow ourselves to be genuine, open and receptive to what the animal is trying to tell us, just as he can feel safe enough, relaxed enough to tell us what he needs.

    I don’t have horses, nor do I spend much time around them, but I do know dogs, and the same situation holds true. If I accept a dog at his own evaluation, watching and listening to his concerns, offering respect and communicating with him in a way that we both understand, I’m no longer “master”, but partner.

    And it’s that partnership, that two-way communication, that ideal bond, that we’re both seeking, isn’t it? Isn’t it, in fact, safety, security, even love?

    1. Walka M Wardell

      Beautiful insight… thank you for posting.

  5. Walka M Wardell

    So… I must confess… I was extremely distracted today while driving unfortunately as I attempted to count the various horses out in a neighbor’s pasture… I recovered the wheel quickly but it was so lovely just to see them out grazing and enjoying the cooler temperatures here this week compared to this past weekend. I for one am thankful that we have brought the horse into our present and hopefully our futures. Have a beautiful week!

    1. OH Good! So it’s not just me…LOL
      Glad you were able to recover without causing any trouble.
      I’m am also grateful for their presence in our times… they bring a little peace and sanity to a sometimes tumultuous world.

  6. Walka M Wardell

    I also agree with your summation of the reason behind our connection with these beautiful animals… I for myself believe that they bring out the best within our characters because of their purity. I have found that there is a serenity available every time I am near them and a peacefulness.

  7. Karen Dance

    I’m not sure what it is Pat, about horses either, but I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who gets excited when I drive by horses in fields. They are absolutely lovely to look at, to watch, to listen to snuffle and whinny, and yes, to smell. Nothing like the smell of a horse.

    Love your videos and looking forward to getting back to riding.

    1. I remember when I was at the University of Toronto and during exams when I needed a break, I would run down to the stable (at Scarborough College) and inhale the smell of the horses. It always gave me the impetus to study harder!

  8. Michelle Millington

    Hi Pat,

    I’m brand new to your blog and found you on YouTube. Thank you for taking the time to make these wonderful videos. I’m 43 and was heavily involved with horses from the time I was 6 until I was 27 when I had to put a beloved mare down due to founder. After that incident I ended up starting a family and have not been able to truly get back into horses the way I once was by being able to own or lease one. I settle now for the occasional paid horseback ride and whenever possible I volunteer my time to organizations/farms that need a helping hand caring for their own.

    I have too pondered why this deep connection with the horse. I am a believer in a Creator God and so I don’t agree that the horse evolved over time. I appreciate the blog about the evolution of the horse as I am aware of that viewpoint but mine is of this. A loving, creative God made me and you and made the animals and everything else in the natural world. He placed a special connection in our hearts with these magnificent animals.

    One of my favorite verses in the Bible about the horse is the one below. It was also used in the movie Secretariat that was made a few years back.

    In the book of Job in the Bible, God is speaking to Job about various creatures and asking Job if he was involved in the making of these animals (a rhetorical question of course) . Here is what He told Job about the horse.

    ““Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder? Can you frighten him like a locust? His majestic snorting strikes terror. He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength
    ‭‭Job‬ ‭39:19-21 ‭NKJV‬‬
    https://bible.com/bible/114/job.39.19-25.NKJV

    Maybe this is a comment for your other blog but I often wonder if the chestnuts on horses are there to prevent their hooves from damaging their legs as they lay down and tuck their feet in and if the extra growths on the bottom of the leg are callouses that grow from pebbles and rocks hitting that part of their leg. As you know that area of the leg is more sensitive since we squeeze to ask the horse to lift their legs. I don’t know that we will ever have an answer on it but it’s just food for thought.

    Thank you again for taking the time to make this blog and the YouTube videos. I’m sharpening my horse skills again for the hopes of one day soon owning my own farm and being able to have a sanctuary for wild Mustangs and also have a few riding Mustangs of my own.

    God bless you Pat

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