Dear Bear and the entire SIS family,
When I first met you, Bear, it was not love at first sight. I think the day we met, we were both going through something. What you didn’t know, Bear, was this was my first time ever around a horse and I was having a rough go with some emotions. After 21 years of Law Enforcement and the last 6 in child sexual assault investigations my feelings were all over the place. I had tried several avenues of therapy and nothing was working. I had grown angry and lost my smile. I was feeling closed off and becoming someone I didn’t recognize.
This was my first day on the SIS ranch and I was learning all about mucking, I entered your stall with fear in my eyes but your gentle pushing and playful way showed me it was okay. Even though I thought I was going to get crushed by you against the bar.
I learned you liked to pee in your kitchen, and you were a bit pushy if you knew you could get away with it. After you peed right on the fresh hay I gave you, you made the funniest noise as if you were laughing and all I could do was laugh with you.
You are the first horse I ever bridled. I felt a sense of ownership and pride when I tied that knot perfectly around your cheek.
You are the first horse I ever brushed, and you kept pulling away like a bratty child. But I was going to get you looking as pretty as I could. As you allowed me to lift your leg you trusted me to clean your shoes. I was in awe of the fact I was holding your leg up off the ground and you stood still.
You are the first horse I ever walked and every tree we passed you refused to move as you scratched your back, and I pulled like a dummy as if you would just move, I asked you so sweet and you looked at me daring me to try, as my wrangler laughed and called me a coddler.
You are the first horse I ever took for a vet visit and I learned all about your private part because you apparently have a great drop. “This is what the vet said”. Bear you made me blush and I don’t blush.
Bear, you were the first horse I ever sat on. Although my heart was beating out of my chest as my wrangler told me it was a great idea to get on you “bare back”. I was thinking it was the worse idea I ever heard of. I know you could hear and feel my fear but you stood still, calm and without telling me you told me, “I got you”.
What you don’t know, Bear, is that I needed you and this program more than I knew. I have my smile back, my laughter, my brightness, my outlook on the future and I am a better person in just a few months. When I am on the ranch Bear the world and my job fades away. I am at peace. We have a lot of work to do but you saved me Bear, and please thank all your friends at SIS.
