Last week was my 15th wedding anniversary. We celebrated with good friends and one of my favorite horses, Arthur. He is pictured horse on the right or outside of the carriage along with his brother Andy.

Stretch came into my life in the fall of 2005. He had just bucked a trainer off and the trainer was injured. Arthur is an imposing 17.2 hands tall. At this time, though, he had not filled in yet and was almost two dimensional in width.

The owner asked Bob to take the horse to an auction to be sold without papers. Knowing the fiscal and emotional investment she had in the horse, Bob brought the animal to his barn to try to find out what was going on. The horse has a kind eye. He is a very giving animal, loves to be with humans and is very willing. Bob knew there was something going on. In short order, he figured out that the horse was in some significant discomfort.

Arthur grew so tall so fast, that most of his body had not caught up with him yet. We nicknamed him Stretch. His rump was higher than his withers, so the saddle was laying downhill on his shoulders instead of resting where there was muscle support along the back. The horse was sent to pasture to rest for three months.

Arthur has always been treated like a prince. He has his own dry lot where he was raised, served his meals and was never out with other horses in fear he would be injured. Every training session was began and ended with a full body grooming session. He had the best veterinary care. Getting put out with a herd of horses was a life-changing experience for him. He had to learn how to be part of a herd. In time, this taught him how to act more like horse and provided him with the skills he would need later for his training.

I was able to see him run out in the open the first time he was turned out. He was unsure where to go or how to act, but he did move out. He also had to learn to drink from a pond instead of a bucket. His first trip to the pond, he startled at the water and ran away. The second trip to the waters' edge, he had to spread his front legs apart to get his head down to the water. The cold water touching his nose startled him and again he ran off. The next time, he settled in for a drink.

Bobs' next step with Arthur was to bring him in for ground work in a round pen daily for a short strengthening session. He was encouraged to walk and trot around the pen to help heal the tendons and muscles that were sore. This process also kept him used to being handled, standing tied quietly, getting used to ropes around his legs, loud noises and scary objects.

An apprentice horseshoer either is not paid at all, or is paid very little. Bob amused customers by telling them that my salary was $25 a day and all the hoof trimming I could eat. While I was apprenticing, I would take about three months in the dead of winter and work any menial low paying job I could get. One of those jobs will not pay the bills, so I usually had two to three going at a time in the winter. I would have a day off about every 20 days or so.

Late January of 2006, I had not so much as seen a horse for three weeks. One of my part time jobs that winter involved merchandising at several Walmart stores and somehow the car ended up at Bob and Carols’ barn. I was dressed in work clothes but I didn’t care. I keep riding boots at the barn, so I tucked my work pants in them and start cleaning stalls. Stretch came to the door, so I let him in and give him some grain.

I had started riding him under Bobs' supervision a couple of months earlier. He gaits were jerky and uncoordinated. I don't think he was hurting, he just didn't understand where to put all the leg he had. Riding him is part of his therapy. A lot of walking and circling, with some light trotting. Our goal was to strengthen his muscles and help him find his sense of balance and coordination. As he got stronger, we were able to lope a little.




On this day, I opted to ride in a western saddle instead of my hunt seat saddle. For the first time since Arthur showed up at this barn he feels like he isn’t sore. His gait is so different, light with a bounce and flare. I can’t believe it took three months for him to heal and feel better.

I had no idea when I left the house that morning that I would end up at the barn, but I felt so much better. If we do have other lives to live, I hope that in my next one I don’t wait 25 years to live the life I am meant to live. I had so many signs growing up that pointed to this.

I don’t know if anyone remembers the movie North. It was about a kid that traveled around the world looking for better parents, but ended up realizing his own parents were wear he belonged. I spent the past 25 years always feeling like I was with the wrong people and in the wrong job. I stayed in my work field and moved around the country. More than once, at different jobs, I have said to myself that these are not my people.

I now feel like I am with people I am comfortable being around. I feel like myself. I can’t believe I spent so much of my life without horses around me everyday. I figured out I didn’t even see a horse for 12 years. I survived that, but now that they are back in my life I couldn’t even get through three weeks without them.

Arthur stayed with Bob for about 14 months. By March that year, Bob realized I was going to stay another shoeing season. He started putting me under tougher horses. The kind that don't stand still or are always pulling their legs away from you. I was constantly sore, brusied and exhausted. I also had a broken metatarsal bone in my right foot. Then came a one-two punch. The dog died. A week later my husband was diagnosed with diabetes.

A couple of days later, I was at Bobs' barn pulling shoes off two horses. Both horses were bullys. They would pull back on their ties, slam me against the wall and jerk their legs away. Something inside me just snapped. I started crying. Not the nice actress girly crying. I mean whole body shaking, snot running, sobbing. Bob hates crying women. I knew he would be coming back out to the barn any minute, so I went out to the pasture.

Half way to the horses, Arthur saw me and left the herd to walk over to me. When he got to me, he laid his head against my chest and stood there while I cried all over his face and neck. He never tried to pull his head away or move. When I could stand on my own, he began grazing in a circle around me. Everytime he came past the front of my body, he would come back over to get his face rubbed. He stayed with me until I was ready to go back to the barn and start pulling shoes again.

People worry so much about buying a horse that is a certain color or a certain breed. None of that compares to being with a horse that wants to please and wants to be with humans. Arthur's owner was so happy to have her horse back. Arthur spent a year on the hunter show circuit. This winter, he and his full brother Andy went to an Amish community to learn to drive.

Jan, Arthurs owner, asked Bob to bring me out for a carriage ride. We scheduled it for our anniversary and what a great gift it was! I have not seen Arthur for three years. He is no longer gangly and awkward. He is filled out, taller and still has that kind eye. I'd like to think he remembers me. He obviously has found his niche pulling a wagon. He even found time to pick on his brother as they were going down the road.