In the form of a wonderful little road trip, I was reminded that life is indeed simple if we don't make extra work out of complicating it. An eight year old Thoroughbred stood in front of me yesterday morning and in her own way, lectured me rather fervently on how I am adding complications to what should be a fairly simple life. It was quite a dressing-down, let me tell you.
After an hour and a half of highway driving on a gorgeous, warm, clear day, my friend Linda and I landed in the town of Bright to check in on Linda's adopted Thoroughbred, Regal Diamond. At only 8 years old, this horse has known the best and worst of good intentions at the hands of humans. She has championship lineage and was the end result of a $20,000.00 stud fee. She was bred to race, raced, won more than $110,000 in purses, and was retired to her second start as a pleasure horse. But then something went terribly wrong. Fast forward a few years, and we find her on a farm in Bright simply trying to survive a period of time where prior to Linda the noble beast nearly starved. Literally. Linda adopted her seven months ago and moved her to a stable where she could rest, gain weight, and slowly recover her health.
Thoroughbreds are high strung, high performance animals. When you factor in an element of abuse in the form of neglect, well, I wasn't sure what to expect when I met RD for the first time yesterday. What I discovered warmed my heart. Calm. Aware. Smart. Playful. Mischievous. Spirited. And miraculously... trusting and loving. She is still recovering from her ordeal and has a way to go yet, but was so overtly open to giving and receiving love that I couldn't be anything but humbled.
She stood patiently (untethered) in an indoor ring as we curried her, scraped muck off her hooves, picked her frogs, soft brushed her, rubbed her down.... and played possum with her. On occasion she'd walk away from us, only to turn around and walk with purpose straight at us, brushing her girth up against one of us as if to say, "I could knock you on your can right now, you know." I swear I could see the smirk on her gorgeous face. She pushed her nose up to the sky and let her bottom lip go slack as Linda scratched her withers for what seemed like an eternity. Then she'd walk off again, this time go for a little canter around the ring, and then come back to us for more petting and brushing. When her brethren in the stable whinnied, she spoke back to them. When a flake of hay arrived in the ring, she nibbled peacefully while hands were run down her legs and around her underside, feeling out possible maladies. And when it was all said and done, she walked off to the middle of the ring, found a good spot, thumped the ground with her right front hoof, and went for three or four really good rolls in the sand. No doubt about it: this is a happy girl.
And there you have it. Regal Diamond has a life that could be complicated, should be complicated, has every right to be complicated, and yet somehow isn't. The beautiful spirit of a proud creature emerged ahead of the little voice in her head that cautioned her that sometimes people can hurt you, whether intended or not.
Life is simple if we don't set about trying to complicate it.
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