Diary of a Happy Appy

  Jeremiah 30:17 ~  "But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD" A couple years ago Louie was out with some of his pals for the day in their turn-out pens and when he came in, he was limping.  There was no obvious sores or marks on him.  We could not figure out what was wrong with my buddy.  Of course, him being a horse, he couldn’t just tell me what was going on, so we had to start looking for the problem. We narrowed it down to his back foot (hoof).  It turns out, that he had picked up a nail in his foot and it was rather painful.  We had to have the vet take an x ray of his foot to see if there had been any damage done and then came the long hours and days of soaking it to get any infection out from the rusty piece of nail.  We sat in the barn isle day after day with his foot in a boot, me talking to him, to God and get quite a few things figured out. Sometimes people, and animals are hurting and they can’t tell y...

Every now and then again, A good horse comes along, You better pay attention, Be a shame if you go wrong.   When you see him comin’, You must not hesitate, “Cause you just might miss him, If too long you wait.   The good ones are attractive, People look for build and color, And if they’re at an auction, Will out-bid one another.   Why, just last week in Cow Town, One brought a hundred grand, Lord knows I was honored, Just in the barn to stand.   But out there in the country, When you can have some time, To look at what you’re seein’, You’ll sooner come out fine.   The width of hip, it matters, You’ll want a pretty head, And if he’s moving graceful, Broke but not plumb dead.   Does he look closer at you, Or does he look on past, Does he seem to know you, Is that feelin’ gonna last.   It’s not unlike the Savior, When He sees us, we are known, The one He paid the price for, And will take us home.   And bonded there forever, He with His love will heal...

  I smile when I catch God watching me through the eyes of my horse…   There is nothing quite like the innocence of an animal or a child.  If you are unsure of what I am talking about, watch as a puppy or a dog plays in the new fallen snow.  I know I cannot remember the last time that I have unabashedly just gone out and played in the snow or jumped in a pile of leaves. Do you?  These past few days here in Lincoln we received 12 – 14 inches of snow depending on where you were in the city.  I don’t know about you, but all that white fluffy cold stuff did not entice me to come out and play! But my neighborhood kids sure do love playing in it.  I know our pony Honey loves standing outside in it and watching it come down.  Louie… Not so much.  He’s more like me.  He wants to be in his cozy house out of the weather with a blankie, slippers and a peppermint cocoa watching tv. But, regardless of if it is snowing, sunny or if we are just lazing ...

  Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings in tune without words, And never stops at all.  (Emily Dickinson)   Have you ever had one of those feelings?  You know the one that I’m talking about, that feeling that you get where you know that something you want is going to happen, your pretty sure of it, but you’re not 100% sure of it but you have that gut feeling?  That is that hope feeling that trust that we have in the Lord that everything will work out the way that God has planned.   Jeremiah 17:7 –  Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, an whose hope is in the Lord.   I moved to Nebraska in 2009 from East Texas, I knew no one and really had nothing except my two horses and my little dog Brady.  Fast forward a few years, I now have no little dog (old age) and one happy appy gelding named Louie and two degrees I didn’t have when I moved here.  I also gained a new family in KS and a church family.  The...

  Out to the barn I go, to lose my mind and free my soul… I am taking a few days off this week to spend in KS with my horses.  They have been at the farm since October 2019 for the winter off.  Well, that turned into the CoVid Quarantine with everything including boarding barns on lockdown.  So, my normal horse time to destress and maintain my equine level of happiness has been lacking! There are introverts, extroverts and then there is me; I am a horsetrovert… I rejuvenate not by being by myself reading or meditating, or around people and parties, but by being in the company of horses and riding.  I feel at peace and find comfort with these wonderful animals.  Sometimes I can be my most prayerful self in the barn where it is quiet and peaceful.  Louie has been happy to help me destress and give plenty of horse hugs and even a ride this week.  The last year has been difficult for everyone and we all need to take time to destress and find our happy...