How I Almost Bought a Horse
Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a girl who thought she loved horses.
She read somewhere that horses were kind and intelligent and she had been horse riding a few times, so she thought she knew enough to call herself a horse lover.
Until she met another girl, who actually lived on a farm and looked after the real horses for a living. That other girl had four horses of her own, and she took care of other people’s horses as well. She had to get up early, and clean the stables, and teach her horses different tricks, and then bathe them and feed them and show them she loved them.
So, our girl was very much envious of that other girl, so she asked her what it takes to be able to live with horses. All you need is a horse, - that other girl said. You cannot train unless you have one. If you had one, I could teach you how to ride and how to look after it.
And that got our girl thinking about the actual, real, alive horse she could call her own. She recalculated the budget for the next month to realise she could squeeze some little horsie in. She knew she could afford the horse’s rent and food and maintenance (the quote was around $50 per week). She started picking the names and looking at knee-high boots. It all was going very well, until she realised that living in a central city apartment, not owning a car, not being able to drive and not having the actual time to spend with the horse it would have been a total disaster buying it. So she did not.
(That girl was me, four years ago). I like to think about it as not of a crushed dream, but a postponed dream. A horse - any horse, not necessarily pedigree - is still in the top 5 on my wish list. I still intend to take some time off in this life and live on a farm, looking after animals. I intend to learn how to ride and how to trot and how to jump. One day, one day..
Why am I talking about it here? Because a “Horse and Pony” magazine was delivered to my mailbox the other day, and I am thinking, God, is this a sign it is time to buy a horse?
For some reason, the little mechanism that delivers my posts from eugenia.co.nz to Livejournal is out of order, but not to worry, I will do it manually for the time being.