My mares help me stay centered.
Last week there was a transition. I moved my horses from the small acreage across the road from the house that my parents built to the farm – about six miles from town. We sold the little place now it was time to get the horses off.
These are mares who haven’t been handled much in the past several years. They were all born on that place, and one had never been off it. I had much anxiety over this move.
Part of my anxiety was about my son who would be helping me and says he hates horses. He can be abrupt and rushed. Not a good thing when working with horses. Part of it was about the trailer we were using. And part of it was over the mares getting hurt.
Bugs A Special aka Sassy, my guardian.
We did some preparations at the farm on Saturday. Mid-morning on Sunday we met at the barn. We figured out where to put the trailer to get the horses in with the most ease. We set up a small pen and went to get lunch to let the horses get used to it. After lunch, we made the pen smaller. Then we got some hay to put in the trailer to entice them. That didn’t work very well.
My mom called and asked if she could take Mikey (my granddaughter) to the movie that evening, and it was decided that they would all go out to dinner before. This all happened about the time I had decided that we needed to stop for the evening because it would be close to dark before we could get them moved.
We left things set up causing a bit more anxiety for me and would resume on Monday. When I went to feed it looked like one of them had gone into the trailer, but the hay looked like it hadn’t been touched.
I had some appointments in the morning so I wouldn’t be able to work with them until afternoon. Charlie called at around 12:30 saying the mares were loaded. What – you started without me?
We took the mares out to the farm and let them out in the corral, their temporary home. Now I have purged most of the anxiety about moving them to eastern Kansas. A much longer trip.
My son who I was anxious about was a rockstar. He didn’t rush the horses and allowed me to take my time even though he pointed out a few times that they were supposed to have been moved on Saturday. He and I also got to spend some special time together. While we were waiting for the horses to get into the trailer, he shared his aspirations and dreams with me.
As I’ve heard many times from my mentor Melisa, I needed to trust the process. Instead, I lay in bed for the nights before the move and worried about all the things that might happen. None of them did. This is not normal for me. When I’m asked about my superpower, I always answer sleeping. It’s my elite superpower, It doesn’t usually take much time for me to get to sleep. And all the anxiety that had kept me awake for nights was unwarranted.
Do you get anxious? Does it keep you awake at night? Let the horses and I help you live in the moment and be mindful. Connect with me here to learn more.
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Onward!
