The Warmth of A Horse

> When your day seems out of balance
>      and so many things go wrong ...
>      When people fight around you
>      and the clock drags on so long ...
>      When some folks act like children
>      and fill you with remorse ...
>      Go out into your pasture and wrap
>      your arms around your horse.
>
>      His gentle breath enfolds you as he
>      watches with those eyes ...
>      He may not have a PhD but he
>      is, oh so wise!
>      His head rests on your shoulder
>      you hug him good and tight ...
>      He puts your world in balance
>      and makes it seem all right.
>
>      Your tears will soon stop flowing,
>      the tension will be eased ...
>      The nonsense has been lifted.
>      You are quiet and at peace.
>      So when you need some balance
>      from the stresses in your day ...
>      The therapy you really need
>      Is out there eating hay!

This is a personal favorite of mine. I have cried over it many times and many have received it from me in special times...

The Grandest Foal

 >
>I'll lend you for a little while,
>My grandest foal, God said.
>For you to love while he's alive,
>And mourn for when he's dead.
>  It may be one or twenty years,
>Or days or months, you see.
>But will you, til I take him back,
>Take care of him for me?
>
>He'll bring his charms to gladden you
>And should his stay be brief,
>You'll have those treasured memories,
>As solace for your grief.
>I cannot promise he will stay,
>Since all from earth return.
>But there are lessons taught on earth
>I want this foal to learn.
>
>I've looked the wide world over
>In my search for teachers true.
>And from the throngs that crowd life's lanes,
>With trust, I have selected you.
>Now will you give him all your love?
>Nor think the labor vain,
>Nor hate me when I come
>To take him back again?
>
>I know you'll give him tenderness
>And love will bloom each day.
>And for the happiness you've known,
>You will forever-grateful stay.
>But should I come and call for him
>Much sooner than you'd planned.
>You'll brave the bitter grief that comes,
>And maybe understand.
>

Subject: THE GAL IN THE GLASS......THE GAL IN THE MIRROR

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
    and the world makes you king for the day,
Then go to the mirror and look at your self
     and see what the gal has to say .

For it isn't your mother ,your father or wife
    whose judgement on you must pass.
 The person whoes verdict counts most in your life
    is the gal staring back from the glass.

She's the one to please ,never mind the rest.
     for she is with you clean to the end;
And you passed your most dangerous
      and difficult test
if the gal in the glass is your friend.

You may be like jack horner and chisel a plum
   and think you are a wonderful gal,
But the gal in the glass says you are a bum
    if you can't look her straight in the eye.

YOU MAY FOOL THE WHOLE WORLD-
   DOWN THE PATHWAY OF YEARS
AND GET PATS ON THE BACK AS YOU PASS;
BUT THE FINAL REWARD WILL BE HEARTACHES AND TEARS;
  IF YOU CHEATED THE GAL IN THE GLASS!

-------------------------------------------------------------

IF - Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
 

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
 

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unfo

rgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And—which is more—you'll be a Man my son!

—Rudyard Kipling

[Source: "ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN" by Robert Fulghum.  See his web site at http://www.robertfulghum.com/  

-------------------------------------------------

Invictus

I Hung Up My Bridle Today

Yesterday, for the first time, I was too tired to ride

Yesterday, for the first time, I was afraid I would be hurt if I was thrown

Yesterday, for the first time, I heard someone say my barn was too shabby

Yesterday, for the first time, I let someone tell me I was too pudgy to ride

Yesterday, for the first time, I realized I was old

Yesterday, for the first time, I had to face that I could no longer keep up

Yesterday, for the first time, I had to let go of my dreams

Yesterday, for the first time, I felt my heart break

Yesterday, for the first time, I turned my back on my friend

Yesterday, for the first time, I knew I was done


Today, for the last time, I felt warm, braided leather in my hands.