I originally posted this to the AAE volunteer/adopter page on Facebook…and was surprised by how much love and support it got. People even requested to share it! And since that page is a closed group, I decided to turn it into a blog post so that it can be shared and hopefully reach more people and impact them the same way it seems to have impacted others. It is definitely not easy for me to be this vulnerable but I knew that this amazing group of people would understand. And because I care so much about mental health and want to spread awareness, I am trying to be open about my own. So here it is.
Alright so I just gotta make an appreciation post because last night I really needed him and he is always there for me. He always knows. I went out to the barn after I got off work around 6:30pm, so it was already dark and supposed to start snowing soon so I needed to blanket him. And so I wrapped myself up in his other blanket just so I could hang out for a bit and be near him. I put his blanket on and then gave him a hug and went and sat in one of the windows of his hay hut. He follows me over and stands directly in front of me and just keeps his nose right on my face. Breathing with me. Then he’d start giving me kisses and making me laugh. He always knows how to cheer me up. By this point I was crying and laughing and the other horses were like “wtf is going on??” And so one of them comes over to check things out and he tries to get close to me and Dayton, being the jealous boyfriend that he is, bites him and moves so that he is completely blocking his buddy from even looking at me ?? like “back off this is my human, only I get to make her happy” and that made me laugh so hard. He stood like that until his buddy gave up and went back to eating. Then he turned back to me and continued to give me kisses and stand with me until I calmed down. Then when I was finally calm, he looked at me and then walked away. Like “Ok, my job is here done. You’re fine now” and I was just so overwhelmed with the love and appreciation and amazement that I have for this horse. Words will never be enough. This is why I want to do equine facilitated psycho therapy. Because I KNOW the power of horses and how they have that 6th sense when it comes to emotions and inner turmoil. Because I know that riding isn’t the only way to connect with your horse and definitely isn’t the most important. And I fully believe that mental health is so important and should be talked about more. So I had to share this and I knew you all would understand and not think I’m crazy ??♥️
Liv,
You are so fortunate to have Dayton in your life. He is a sweet, loving animal. I know he is missed at the rescue!