You see, I have learned something. Looking back does not need to be shared or documented, because the important things will most definitely be remembered. If you wish to share something with a few select people, shoot them an email, or even better, send them a letter. I love letters.
I have come here also to say though, that when it comes down to it, my relationship with my horse is not a partnership. It is not a "relationship" either. I suppose you could call it that, but that seems far too informal to me. Some of you may not know what a friendship is, but to me, the deepest friendships are things where you can feel the other's Hearte in your Hearte and you feel it no matter whether you are together or apart. For me, Cherish is a friend. A very dear friend. She has become a much bigger part of my life than I had really ever expected her to, but really... I have the friendship with my horse that I always used to dream of.
You know, I was in the field the other day with her. She only had a small string of hay twine around her neck, and we were running together. All of a sudden I stopped when a thought came to mind. I can remember passing fields in the car when I was little, and dreaming of what I would be like if I were a horse. I dreamt of all of the things that I would do and say, and I knew that I would love for my person to truly love me back, and that we wouldn't necessarily need any form of tasks. We would just love each other so much that everything would just happen. -- and I realized as I stopped that everything I had said to myself that I would be like if I were a horse was exactly what Cherish is like. And so, it is beautiful.
Our love for each other is strong. But that does not mean that everything is perfect. And I think that that is the problem - is that so many people get hung up on perfection that they forget to Love. I had forgotten to Love even. And sometimes, all the time really, Love is far more powerful than ever getting good at anything. You don't need to be able to do the perfect piaffe. You don't need to be able to do the perfect jump gymnastics combination to lead into an ascending oxer. You don't need to be able to win or even complete the fifty mile endurance race. And you don't need to be able to get your Level 4 in Parelli. Sure, they are all nice goals. But without any sort of Love or Friendship, if you reach these goals, in my mind, and certainly in the horse's mind - you still have nothing.
You cannot have anything without having Love. Respect - it is empty without love. Only compliance without love. If you have perfection - it is nothing without Love. If you have performance - it is nothing without Love. If you have your emotions mastered - it is nothing without Love.
Do you have to be married to feel Love? No. I'm certainly not, I'm only fifteen years old. Do you have to be able to be with the best and most perfected family? Ha! Our family is far from perfect. It is not about being right or correct or completing things. When you look back on your life when you are about to die, you do not see all of your accomplishments. No. You see everything that was special to your Hearte.
And so here I have realized that it is not important to have to ride. That it is not important to have to do anything. That everything needs to be taken slow, and only done with Love and with Hearte. For done any other way - whether hurried or bossed or told - is no where near as fulfilling as friendship.
