How Lily came into my life

In early January of 2007 right after Christmas, I found a Dream horse ad for a palomino filly living right down the road from our home. I had talked to the previous owner/breeder who told me to stop by anytime and meet the filly, she was still with her mom at the age of twenty months. I remember her saying it has been a hard decision to sell her because she is beautiful. I drove into the farm and saw several horses, I saw the palomino mare and standing behind her in the stall was Lily. My first look at Lily is burnt into my memory as she appeared to be sparkling, brand new, with a zest for life. Lily was white from her winter coat and a bit dirty. The owners were not home, so I did not enter their paddock. I walked outside their paddock and stood looking in at her beauty. It had been thirty four years since I had my own horse and suddenly time stood still. Lily immediately left her mother's side and ran up to the fence and followed me as I ran to the end of her small paddock; in that moment I felt like I was a young girl again. I ran back up the paddock fence to see if she would follow me; her mother was standing way back staring at me and I repeated this again just to make double sure; and then the miracle came: Lily stuck her nose up to the fence to smell me, so I blew my breath of air softly back at her, at this moment in time the filly and I had hooked on, or as Monty Roberts states, “joined up”. I thanked God for this miracle. God knows what we need to smile again and for me it was this filly.

What Lily has taught me

Lily has taught me to get a plan, be safe and take my time on my goals. She has taught me how to stretch and learn as much as possible about how to train a horse, donkey or mule. She has taught me to honor their dignity, as she was very spoiled by her mother. Lily taught me how to let go of everything in my life when I was with her, and just be in the moment and to stop worrying about things I cannot control. She taught me how to let go of the pain of the past and feel her sparkle and zest for life and enjoy the moment. Lily was quick to teach me humility; how my emotions had to be in neutral or she would get too excited on adrenaline. The little filly taught me how to enjoy every moment and savor the time I am with her. Most important, she taught me to thank God for everything good and bad in my life. Lily's smell is intoxicating and the most primal sensory each human has is smell, so smelling Lily reminds me of a time when I was young and able to escape life and just ride my horse.

Goals for Lily

I have accomplished my 1st goal and that is to help her get past her spooky self, as she was afraid of everything. The second was to have the best trail horse, and we are getting close to finishing this goal. Lily is an amazing trail horse today and I am proud of our team work. I plan to finish Lily with Parelli and possibly some dressage in the future. Lily has taught me to listen to God and my sixth sense when working with people too, as all the medical teams who help her when needed, are human. My goal is to continue to stay in partnership with Lily and always leave her dignity in place, as this is the best reward for me. Ribbons, peer pressure, money..... nothing is more important than having an outstanding relationship with my horse.