All the Pretty Little Horses

My mother used to sing that lullabye to us. At least she says she did. I have no recollection of it. But I have heard the Charlotte Church version and I have recently rediscovered what every little girl seems to inherently know: Horses are magical.


As a child of the 80's, I was constantly bombarded with pro-horse propaganda in the form of Saturday morning cartoons. From the sugary pastels of My Little Ponies to the egotistical but marvelous steed of Rainbow Bright, Starlight, these cheaply done animated shorts banked off the innate desires of little girls every where. Who among us hasn't, at some point, day dreamed about owning a beautiful stallion with a flowing mane that could carry us off onto a rainbow? One that would let us braid it's mane and tail and embellish it with fluffy pink bows? They truly are creatures of fantasy.



Last semester, I quit my job and had too much time on my hands. I decided I needed to volunteer in order to feel like a useful human being. After looking at a pamphlet issued by the Student Service center at BYU, I found a group called Horses for Healing. Apparently BYU is affiliated with a equine therapy clinic that rehabilitates patients with mental and physical disabilities. I figured it couldn't hurt my career to work with horses, so I signed up. Technically, we're supposed to be working with the patients while on horseback, but my experiences with this group has been primarily taking care of the horses. It has been quite a rush. For while we are taught that lovely maidens who are kind to animals win their love and loyalty instantly, reality has taught me that horses are big, powerful creatures, and they know it. They're very gentle for the most part, but I have seen people get kicked, and it is not an enviable fate.





All in all, I love what I do. I went yesterday to brush the horses and help the pregnant mares prepare for foaling. It was a beautiful day and I'm loving the opportunity not only to work with amazing animals that do so much good, but also spending time with people who feel as I do.


I really was happy to be there, it's just that the sun was in my face. Actually, I was grateful for it; I've done some fairly violating procedures on these animals (the kind you don't discuss over blogs) and having cold hands does not help ensure safety.

I guess I made some friends while I was out there; one of the guys that works out there offered to take pictures of me. Later wanted me to go for a ride. I guess being happy makes me cute.




There were honest to goodness some of the most beautiful animals I'd ever seen.

Anyway, I feel very blessed to be living the dream.

"Houston...we have ignition..."

This installment is not so much a funny one, but rather one of serious gratitude. Last November my family did something completely uncharacteristic of us and traveled to San Francisco to visit my younger sister for Thanksgiving. She's been living out there for a couple of years to study fashion design at the Art Institute. I've missed her terribly, but I didn't count on how much seeing her again would impact me. Kaitlin is one of my very best friends in the whole wide world, and when I saw how much she had grown, I was so proud of her. She had become someone who was wise and tolerant and resourceful. She showed us all the sights of the city, some of them I thought were beautiful and whimsical, others I thought were overwhelming and frightening. Her world is very different then mine. As I noticed these changes in her, I felt a sense of longing that was like nothing I'd ever known before. I wanted to do what she had done, and be what she had become. I wanted to learn what it was like to leave home and have some new experiences; living in a state where I belong to the dominant religion, I've never had to defend what I believe in. I wanted to see what I could do on my own.

Promptly after I came home, I got on the computer and looked up Vet Tech schools. I made the decision that I wasn't going to attend the one in Salt Lake. I was going to make myself leave. I stumbled across a website for the Vet Tech Institute of Houston. It looked like a nice place, so I applied for information. Within days a representative contacted me. I learned that the program had a retired zoo keeper as head of staff, which meant a direct link to a future job at a zoo. I also learned that the program was a year and a half, as opposed to the usual two or four year programs. They were impressed with the fact that I was almost through with my bachelor's degree and that I had already had some experience with vet clinics and shelters. Something about it felt really good. We began the application process and the way I was treated, I thought I had acceptance in the bag.

A few days ago, I got a call from the school, telling me that all I had left to do was an interview. I wasn't concerned about it; I was told all I needed to do was convince them how commit ed I was. Easy! But when I got the phone call the next day, the head of the department told me that I lacked the points necessary to get automatically accepted, and this interview would determine whether or not I would make the cut. They asked me several different ethical questions and I answered them as honestly as I could. But after my interview, I felt sick to my stomach. This was something I wanted on so badly. I had worked hard and banked everything on getting accepted to Houston. I sat up all night that night worrying about what I was going to do and where I was going to go if this didn't happen. I had received information from other schools, but I hadn't applied to any of them, because I didn't want them. The prospect of going somewhere else made me quite depressed. The next day I got a surprise phone call from the institute. Apparently the head of Human Resources has become a good friend of mine, because when she managed to catch a glimpse of my scores for the interview and saw that I had aced it, she couldn't resist calling me to let me know. I had been accepted! She said that I had done as well as I possibly could've, and that my responses blew them out of the water. She ended by saying that she would be in touch to help me with finding financial aid and housing. I couldn't believe it! I still can't. I have a path to where I want to go. I have a plan. I have the awesome opportunity to see and experience new things and stretch myself to become the person I want to be. I'm so incredibly grateful and excited! I feel like I'll get to go somewhere with my life. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving me this chance, and I'm going to do everything I can to be worthy of his trust. Look at me go!