On Monday
my dad will load Finn onto a trailer to head down to Maryland and start his new
life. From 6 hours away I will wait patiently for the call saying he has
arrived and I will do what I can to move forward with only thanks. Some horses
ask more of us then we think is possible, we struggle to find the courage to
jump the fences, the emotional strength to make the right decisions and the
humbleness to laugh when we get eliminated at the water for the 6th
time. They force us to step outside of our comfort zones and become the people
who we wish we could have been all along. It isn’t just about riding or
winning, these are the horses that help us grow up.
The truth
is that nine times out of ten I had no clue what I was doing when I got on
Finn, but he made me trust my own feel and let go of the fears I had harbored
for so long. Even on his worst days he made me better. He trained me. For
months I have tried to make Finn into what I wanted; what I thought that I
needed. Things would work and then they wouldn’t and it because an endless
cycle of disappointment on both sides. I felt like I was letting my best
teacher down. He kept telling me he needed something else, something easier,
but I couldn’t listen because I still needed him. I was selfish.
But, Finn
was still teaching, he was still forcing me to grow up. When he got to school
with me he wasn’t happy, he was faltering. I saw that it was time. So now down
the road he goes, to little girls, horse shows, ribbons, braids and a forever
home. To new young girls to teach to be young women, finally, the opportunities
are endless for the horse that gave me everything.
