Cheryl Reed-Dudley - Rescued by a Horse: True Stories of Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Healing

INSPIRATIONAL TRUE STORIES OF PHYSICAL,
EMOTIONAL, AND SPIRITUAL HEALING

Skyhorse Publishing

Copyright 2010 by Cheryl Dudley

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ISBN: 9781616081539

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I F IT WERE POSSIBLE TO CAPTURE THE essence of the horse in one comprehensive sentence, what would it say? Im not talking about the beauty or elegance of the animal, for many poets have captured his physical attributes in fine lines of poetry.

What Im talking about is the abstract, unseen power that draws us to him, the hidden heart and soul of an animal that longs to connect with humankind, an animal that throughout the centuries has suffered at our hands, yet time and again has mercifully forgiven and saved us. Is it possible to sum up that essence in one short sentence?

Perhaps the best description on the power of the horse Ive come across is in the poem Equus Caballus, written by Joel Nelson. This poem gives credence to the horse, who gave us not only mobility and utility, but also the ability to conquer nations and thrive as civilizations. It captures the heroism of this humble yet powerful animal and his willingness to look past our abuses, mistakes, and shortcomings and love us unconditionally.

Here are the words to that powerful poem:

I have run on middle fingernail through Eolithic morning.

I have thundered down the coach road with the Revolutions warning.

I have carried countless errant knights who never found the grail.

I have strained before the caissons, I have moved the nations mail.

Ive made knights of lowly tribesmen and kings from ranks of peons.

I have given pride and arrogance to riding men for eons.

I have grazed among the lodges and the tepees and the yurts.

I have felt the sting of driving whips, lashes, spurs and quirts.

I am roguishI am flightyI am inbredI am lowly.

Im a nightmareI am wildI am the horse.

I am gallant and exaltedI am statelyI am noble.

Im impressiveI am grandI am the horse.

I have suffered gross indignities from users and from winners,

I have felt the hand of kindness from the losers and the sinners.

I have given for the cruel hand and given for the kind.

Heaved a sigh at Appomattox when surrender had been signed.

I can be as tough as hardened steelas fragile as a flower.

I know not my endurance and I know not my own power.

I have died with heart exploded neath the cheering in the stands

Calmly stood beneath the hanging noose of vigilante bands.

I have traveled under conqueror and underneath the beaten.

I have never chosen sidesI am the horse.

The world is but a players stagemy roles have numbered many.

Under blue or under grayI am the horse.

So Ill run on middle fingernail until the curtain closes,

And I will win your Triple Crowns and I will wear your roses.

Toward you who took my freedom Ive no malice or remorse.

Ill endureThis Is My YearI am the Horse!

Joel Nelson, All Rights Reserved. 2002

Joel, who lives in Alpine, Texas, is one of todays most respected poets and reciters. His CD, The Breaker in the Pen, is the only cowboy poetry recording ever nominated for a Grammy Award.

Without a doubt, the horse continues to capture our attention and play a significant role in contemporary life. Those who have the honor of experiencing the power of the horse are often changed forever.

Every horse-human relationship is unique. Down through the centuries, millions of humans would attribute their very reason for living to their best horse friend. As Joel Nelsons poem attests, the horse has given more to humankind than we can begin to comprehend. His gift to us includes companionship and sometimes even life itself.

The consensus among many horse lovers is that horses give them hope and a reason to get up in the morning. The more I talk to horse lovers, particularly those who have encountered difficult times in life, the more I hear this one line, this one commonality among them, that makes them so strongly bonded to their horse:

My horse saved my life.

Amazingly, the salvation for these horse lovers was often physicaland it sometimes happened more than once. But oftentimes the salvation came in a more abstract form.

My horse saved me from suicide.

My horse gave me hope to go on when nothing else could.

My horse helped me recover from cancer; helped me recover emotionally from a divorce; helped me get me feet back on the ground.

My horse gave me a reason to keep on going.

This book is about that one-line sentence that captures the essence of a regal, beautiful, and powerful animal that has the ability to reach deep into our souls and save us. This is about the horses that saved lives.

Many of the stories are of a physical nature when danger or death was imminentand it is only because a horse interceded that these storytellers are alive. Other stories capture that other plane of salva-tionthe emotional salvation that drove our storytellers back to sanity and a clear mind and keeps them functioning on a solid plane. The voices in this book range from a Vietnam veteran and persons with disabilities to show ring queens and everyday horse owners.

The horse has no favorites. He never takes sides. He just gives and gives unconditionally. Now step with me into the world of humble horsesthose heroes who no more know their power than their ability to protect, heal, and give hope to the lost.