#equine photography

On one hand, we know that everything happens for a reason, and there are no mistakes or coincidences. On the other hand, we learn that we can never give up, knowing that with the right tools and energy, we can reverse any decree or karma. So, which is it? Let the Light decide, or never give up? The answer is: both. - Yehuda Berg {March 2017} It has been quite a while. I haven’t had much time or opportunity to take pictures or edit so here’s an instgram edited cellphone snapshot. It has been another tough few months for us but I think we’ve finally hit the point where things are looking up again. I don’t want to bore those of you who are just here for the pictures with the details, but I’ve had to learn so much in the past year and there are so many people with sick horses, that I was thinking of starting a side blog for all the other stuff. Maybe it could be helpful to some facing the same problems? Maybe some are interested in Johann’s every day life? Any thoughts? Anything you might be particularly interested in?

“Moments never stay, whether or not you ask them, they do not care, no moment cares, and the ones you wish could stretch out like a hammock for you to lie in, well, those moments leave the quickest and take everything good with them, little burglars, those moments, those hours, those days you loved the most.” ― Catherine Lacey, Nobody Is Ever Missing {February 2017}

“Work with the horse, not against him. Always listen to what the horse is trying to say. And always think for yourself.” - Mark Rashid, Horsemanship Through Life {January 2017}

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.“
- T.S. Elliot {January 2017}

“Never let hard lessons harden your heart; the hard lessons of life are meant to make you better, not bitter.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart {January 2017}

Something I really admire about Johann, how he just lives this quote. He has been through so much this past year, enough to make anyone bitter. But he is still friendly and open to new things. He’s gotten a bit more careful but I think that’s his spavin’s fault because it just limits him. He can’t move as freely and carelessly or easy as he used to. But bitter? Not at all. I was so worried those weeks in the clinic would change him because it was basically jail 24/7 but he coped so amazingly. I think, in the end, that time was harder for me to see him behind bars unable to do anything to help him that it was for him.

“Don’t be ashamed to weep; ‘tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us.”
― Brian Jacques, Taggerung {July 2016}

“When people are ready to, they change. They never do it before then, and sometimes they die before they get around to it. You can’t make them change if they don’t want to, just like when they do want to, you can’t stop them.”
― Andy Warhol, Andy Warhol in His Own Words {January 2017}

“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”
― Wayne W. Dyer {January 2017}

“How would your life be different if…You stopped making negative judgmental assumptions about people you encounter? Let today be the day…You look for the good in everyone you meet and respect their journey.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free {January 2017}

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky {January 2017}

One of the many lessons I learned in 2016. It was the part of a rollercoaster ride where you feel like you’re going to crash into the ground because it’s going downhill and nothing but downhill very steeply and very very fast. It was a tough, painful, exhausting and devastating year. I’ve met all my limits - physically, mentally, financially - and one point it looked like I would lose the one thing that keeps me going no matter what, the one thing that helpled me beat my ED, put an end to my suicidal thoughts and my misery, what has helped me find my way in this world, the way to happiness and contenment: Johann. It was a close call at the end of a year with a lot of stumbling blocks along a very narrow, windy road for the both of us and it was much worse for him than it was for me. For me it was so bad because it was so bad for him. Don’t min me being omnious, if I wrote it all down, it would probably take me days and you’d be bored three sentences in anyway.

But this is why there have been hardl any updates to this blog in the last year. Things have luckily finally changed for the better just before Christmas so here is to a new year with less drama, less heartache and awful surprises and more laughter, more blissful moments and a ton of pretty pictures!

I am me.
I am who I’m meant to be.
I am my past, my present and who I want to be.
I’m not anyone, I am all three.
I am a work in progress, a destiny.
I am who I choose to be.
I am me. - unknown
{January 2017}

“There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally.” ― Miguel Ruiz {May 2015}