After my illness and during reinvention time a dream began to take shape. I really had no dream or hopes after my aneurysm at all. My biggest hope was to make it to the day and the night. So, all of a sudden there was this equine shaped idea floating around in my head. When I first voiced the idea of learning to ride it scared me. Could I do that? Sadly that had become my mantra. That voice: “you cannot do that”.

Well, somehow, this new dream managed to turn into reality! We adopted a “free horse” in February. I love him, but he absolutely adores my husband. Those two make quite the team. Sir Spencer is a big furry part of our clan.

But, we could not both ride the same horse on a trail ride. Maybe, we should get a sibling for Spencer. I googled” horse adoption” on my phone. Copper Horse Crusade popped up. What Julie Copper had going on seemed amazing! She was making a difference in a situation I had not known existed. I had no clue what was going on with unwanted horses. Yes, I had volunteered with dogs for years at shelters, and I have my support dogs, but the suffering with equines was even bigger. Is even bigger! I searched CHC’s website and read about her work. And then I hit the “coming soon” button. It hit me like a herd of wild horses. There was my horse speaking to me from the website. Something clicked and I texted Julie. Yes, Kona was still available. I sent a deposit to hold her, and I learned everything I could about Percheron. Until then I had never heard of the breed
The waiting period was long! Julie posted a lot of videos and I learned about Kona’s progress. She had been a workhorse and baby factory until she lost her usefulness to the religious community. Julie, thankfully, saw potential in that gorgeous giantess. We drove four hours to Ohio, towing our new-to-us trailer. I was in awe when I got to meet my girl. She was huge and seemed so dejected. My little voice: “you cannot do that,” got stomped out of my vocabulary. We took our newest family member home the next day.

She is boarded at a gorgeous facility and is loved by everybody. She has been a joy to work with. Kona has taught me so much: we are learning groundwork and riding together! Our trainer has enjoyed her as much as I have. We learned that Kona adores little humans and they love her. Kona’s wisdom has helped me with my anxiety issues and her furry presence is better than any medication. Her equine brother is okay with her most of the time! I was out at the barn yesterday and I really noticed that the haunted look in her eyes was replaced with a look of contentment. I feel blessed that I am here to make a difference in this gorgeous lady and her goofy brother. For me, Kona is the right horse.

What #RightHorse means to me

The right horse for me is medicine in a big, furry, equine shape. The right horse smell is the balm for my anxiety. Kona has given me a reason to get out of bed and enjoy my life again!