by Leigh Ballard
The memoir, Chosen By A Horse by Susan Richards, opens with a sudden and unplanned rescue of a horse seized by the local chapter of the SPCA. Susan picks a horse to take home from an emergency holding facility, but with the confusion and unsettling nature of the rescue, the horse will not load in the trailer. In haste, Susan takes a horse that loads willingly, that “chooses” her.
The neglected, emaciated broodmare with a foal at her side comes from a Standardbred racing operation that has fallen on hard times. The owner of the barn has simply ceased to feed his herd, and the situation was discovered barely in time. The sketchy history Susan has of the mare is that she has done her time on the track, endured grueling work, neglect, and numerous health issues. The foal at her side is a wild untouched thing, a real problem. Surprisingly, the mare proves to be a most sweet-spirited and affectionate horse despite all her tribulations.
Susan begins the long road of rehabilitating the mare, named Lay Me Down, and in that process, she finds a generosity of spirit in the mare which offers her psychological healing and renewal. Susan is in mid-life, divorced, has suffered from alcoholism and many emotional wounds, but through her work with the mare, she finds an inner strength and a freedom from the isolation she has experienced throughout her life. A bond that she has never experienced before develops between her and the sweet, ailing horse.
While the story in many ways deals with hard realities, it is ultimately an uplifting story. There is plenty of humor in the spot-on descriptions of herd behavior, jealousies, and attachments of Susan’s other horses: among themselves, the newcomer mare, and their human.
Many equestrians already know that relationships with horses can provide relief from stress and daily grind, but this is a story on a larger, spiritual scale about how horses can provide an emotional focus and a healing avenue away from many troubles.
The memoir, Chosen By A Horse by Susan Richards, opens with a sudden and unplanned rescue of a horse seized by the local chapter of the SPCA. Susan picks a horse to take home from an emergency holding facility, but with the confusion and unsettling nature of the rescue, the horse will not load in the trailer. In haste, Susan takes a horse that loads willingly, that “chooses” her.
The neglected, emaciated broodmare with a foal at her side comes from a Standardbred racing operation that has fallen on hard times. The owner of the barn has simply ceased to feed his herd, and the situation was discovered barely in time. The sketchy history Susan has of the mare is that she has done her time on the track, endured grueling work, neglect, and numerous health issues. The foal at her side is a wild untouched thing, a real problem. Surprisingly, the mare proves to be a most sweet-spirited and affectionate horse despite all her tribulations.
Susan begins the long road of rehabilitating the mare, named Lay Me Down, and in that process, she finds a generosity of spirit in the mare which offers her psychological healing and renewal. Susan is in mid-life, divorced, has suffered from alcoholism and many emotional wounds, but through her work with the mare, she finds an inner strength and a freedom from the isolation she has experienced throughout her life. A bond that she has never experienced before develops between her and the sweet, ailing horse.
While the story in many ways deals with hard realities, it is ultimately an uplifting story. There is plenty of humor in the spot-on descriptions of herd behavior, jealousies, and attachments of Susan’s other horses: among themselves, the newcomer mare, and their human.
Many equestrians already know that relationships with horses can provide relief from stress and daily grind, but this is a story on a larger, spiritual scale about how horses can provide an emotional focus and a healing avenue away from many troubles.
