It seems to be a common dream of many young girls to want to own a horse. I was one of those girls until I got bucked off! But then I met Lakota. I wrote about her a week ago when she left the Tailwind Ranch. I have to admit there is more of a sense of calm in the corrals since she left. No one is having to fight to eat and when I open the gate to let the horses go in where the feeder is, there isn't a mad dash because the first one there. I'm worried about my husbands horse, Cheyenne, because she seems depressed. Lakota was ruthless to her when I first got her, but they seemed to bond over the years. The first time I was going to ride Cheyenne, Lakota walked over as I was getting ready to ride and grabbed her halter off the fence post and carried it over to me in her mouth because she wanted me to take her for a ride instead. Oh, Lakota. As I think about her, I think about the things she taught me about people:
1. Where there's poop, there's flies.
When a person is involved in crap, the flies seem to be abundant as well. By this I mean people who are always in trouble and seem to make bad decisions. They seem to be attracted to crap.
2. If you kick a horse hard enough, they are gonna buck.
Just like with husbands and kids, if you don't ask nicely and you pester them to do something long enough.....they will finally buck and rebel.
3. The grass isn't always greener.
Without fail, I will put my horses out into the nice green pasture and after a while, they stand and stare at the small paddock next to their corrals. Too many people these days are leaving their spouse for someone else because they think it will be better, only to find out that the grass isn't greener, they just have a different set of problems.
4. Stick with a buddy, because they will always have your back.
5. Many friends make light work.
Horses will stand along side each other and swat the flies off of each others faces with their tails. The more friends they have standing by them, the less work they have to do to keep those pesky flies away.
6. There's always a reason a horse bucks. Whether it is a burr in their cinch, they get bit by a horse fly or whatever .... there is always a reason behind the action.
The same goes for people. There is always a reason why people do what they do. If you accept that, you will be less likely to be offended or hurt.
This logic has helped me to make sense of a relationship that went bad a few years ago.
I had a neighbor who was great fun to be with when I lived in Salt Lake. We traveled together on some amazing trips. Our kids were about the same ages and we have scrapbooks full of pictures of the fun times we had together. It was great until I stumbled upon the fact that she had some addiction problems. I wanted to help her and tried to show her I truely cared about her, but she had the attitude of, "I'm going to hurt you before you hurt me." I had a really hard time with this and I couldn't understand how someone would turn on a friend like she did. Then I found out she had been adopted and when she was older, she searched and found her birth mother before I met her. Amazingly her sister, who her mother had kept, lived about a mile from her. My friend was so excited to find this missing link in her life and she met with her birth family members. After she met them, she was told they didn't want to have a relationship with her. I can only imagine how hurtful this would be and I realized why she was afraid of being hurt in relationships. She made it very clear she didn't want to be friends anymore and has since moved away. I think about her often and miss her. I learned a lot from my relationship with her and she helped me to grow up in a way, which I am grateful for. She had a lot of killer salad recipes which I love to eat. So now anytime I make one her salads, I say a little prayer and ask that she be watched over.
Orange Pudding Salad
In a pan, add 1 box of orange jello, 1 box of tapioca pudding and a box of cook and serve pudding with 3C. cold water and bring to a boil. Let boil for one minute then pour into a casserole dish and let cool. Before it is completely set, add two small cans of mandarin oranges. Before serving, top with 8 oz. of whipping cream.
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