I have had horses in my life for as long as I can remember and have marvelled in their beauty and magnificence. At a very early age, my friend and I would ride his wonderful horse down the ditches of rural Calgary into the city where the little horse would spend the night in the backyard and we would ride him back to his barn the next day.

Finally at the age of fourteen, Blaze came into my life as my very own horse. He was a huge gentle beast and he taught me so many lessons. Many of them I didn’t realize until later in life. Lots of horses have come in and out of my life since that wonderful horse.

In 1999 Romeo came into my life and stole my heart the moment I saw him and he and I have been on this journey together since then. When Romeo was four I realized one of my most important lessons –that there was much I didn’t know about myself and seemed as though it was Romeo that would guide me to discover my life’s purpose. Romeo and I embarked on a journey of discovery and learning that would take a lifetime to describe!

I have learned to be humble and open to everything that comes my way in life. Doors open and doors close for us, but there are always good reasons for both. I have also learned how essential harmonizing my emotions with that of the horse is. As human beings, we sometimes tend not to deal with things until we are emotional about them and because of that the communication can go badly. Horses only live in the moment and don’t understand when emotions are brought into the communication. Emotions come from not honouring our thoughts, boundaries and beliefs until we are overwhelmed. Another aha moment. I have taken that lesson into my everyday life and it has become part of who I am. My intention is always to be congruent so I deal with challenging situations before emotions enter into the equation.

My road of self-discovery consumes my life and makes me a better person. I am continuing to become better able to understand myself, embrace my positives as well as my challenges and most of all understand other people. The more I travel down this road, the more I feel people of all ages and backgrounds could benefit from the benevolence of a horse. They are understanding, but at the same time let us know when we are incongruent – our thoughts and feelings inside aren’t matching what we are presenting or bringing to the table on the outside that day. My belief is that we could all benefit from taking their lead, living in the moment and having our insides match our outsides.

I believe that horses can help humans become more balanced physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. They have much to teach us as long as we are listening.