Tuesday's Treasure

Perhaps because yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day and I have “luck” bantering subliminally in my head, I have chosen this horseshoe as my treasure today, but I certainly don’t want to diminish its value to my heart, because it is indeed a treasure that I will keep around probably forever. It was a shoe we looked long and hard for in an empty pasture when our beloved horse died, simply because we wanted something, anything that was left by her that we could hold and remember how special she was. Her name was Shadow and we purchased her one year when our neighbor moved to Florida and couldn’t take her along. Our neighbor was very generous with the price of horse and tack and we couldn’t refuse the opportunity to bond with Shadow. My daughter Kristin had already gotten to know the horse by going out with my neighbor several times to the place she was boarded and riding her. She was an old mare when we got her, but none of us were prepared for what was in store for us in terms of affection and intelligence that was demonstrated by Shadow. We each enjoyed our time with her in our own way. For me she provided a soothing moment that was unhurried and almost tranquil. I loved to brush her and sooth the velvety black hairs around her nostrils. I would whisper in her ear and she would close her eyes in complete trust. Of course when we rode her we went through the motions of being in control, but we would later learn that this was part of her strategy and that she was always in control of us in the most gentle and deliberate of ways. She became sick, undoubtedly in part to do with her age, and we just couldn’t baby her out of it and she didn’t respond to any of the medication administered by the vet. I’ll never forget the phone call I received at work one morning from my dear friend where we had her boarded saying she had passed away. That was one of the most difficult things I ever had to tell Kristin as it really was considered to be her horse even though Shadow struck a chord in all of us. So this horseshoe is full of sweet memories that I will always treasure and something tells me it’s just good luck or good karma to still feel a connection to those things we love that are part of our past.