I feel like a teenager again! Well, a teenager plus about 20 extra years of hard-learned and well-appreciated lessons. Meet Danny! Danny is a 4-year-old recently retired racehorse and an answer to a lot of longing and prayer. If you listened to my podcast episode, How to Self-Coach Through Tough Emotions and Build Break-through Habits, with Melynda Benlemlih, you’ve heard a little about us. Mainly you heard how incredibly and unexpectedly difficult it was to make this shift.
A little perspective: Silas has been my sole horse for over ten years. He’s carried me into motherhood, through overcoming fear, on lots of adventures, and even though he has a bit of a grumpy personality, we eventually made our way into each other’s hearts. But, Silas and I had also hit a bit of a stalemate a couple years back. Because of his physical limitations, I wasn’t growing much as a horseman. I missed feeling like I was improving as a rider or helping the horse improve.
I needed to find a temporary home for Silas with the perfect person who would love and take care of my boy.
God answered my prayer and then some! Silas is in the perfect home just 5 minutes from my house! I can drop in whenever I want and spoil him, and he has a teenager who is a fantastic rider and absolutely adores him!
I was planning a trip to Kentucky to get a horse, when my friend Caitlin sent me a message, “Hey there’s the horse my MIL has. He’s really nice. I wanted to get him but I can’t right now. You should go check him out.” The next morning I was on the backside of Charles Town Racetrack watching a leggy black 4-year-old gallop around the track. He was calm and kind with a gentle eye, not to mention heart-meltingly handsome. I cut a check and we put him on the trailer.
Danny spent a month living in a lush field with one other horse before moving to Caitlin’s and starting our new training program.
I’ll be updating his training on this blog, but most importantly, after years of taking life and horses a little too seriously, I’m simply having fun! I’m not sure how long I’ll have Danny before he moves to his next perfect family. I’m not sure what adventures we’ll have or how fancy he’ll jump. But I do know that I’m grateful for all of it.
As you can see, some of the fun has included a photo shoot at sunset in a fancy dress. The good times have been rolling, and I’m making a lot of reels on Instagram! If you want to see some of the fun, follow me here: www.instagram.com/liveridelearn.
Stay tuned to see my simple training techniques and to follow Danny’s progress!
Happy Trails,
Sarah
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