On my Patreon yesterday for my weekly mental health advocacy post, I talked about how my horses are good for my mental health. They’re my therapist, my physical therapy, and my gym membership all in one. I want to bring this work here to my main blog, as well, especially since so many of my stories feature horses or equines of some sort (unicorns and/or pegasus).
If you talk to most writers, they will tell you that sometimes the best ideas come when you’re not even sitting at the keyboard. In the shower, driving to work, or in my case, cleaning stalls. Until about 2011, I cleaned stalls off an on for most of my life. Starting at a young age when I worked on the weekends, to cleaning out stalls in exchange for riding lessons, and then as an adult to work off part board while I kept my mare inside (nope, she’s a pasture girl), cleaning stalls has the lovely combination of physical labor, immediate satisfaction (when you see it clean) and keeping your body busy kind of work so your mind can wander that makes for great storyteller brain power.
The same goes for grooming horses, walking them on the ground, or even just sitting outside and watching them. For me, there’s nothing better for clearing my mind, releasing some tears if necessary, or just simply taking a deep breath and reminding myself just how far I’ve come to go outside and stand at the fence and watch the horses. I’ll talk to them, and often, I’ll get at least someone coming over to see if I have any treats.
Fortune, the senior mare, got very used to me over the years, grooming her, talking to her, and simply letting out whatever worries or fears were in my heart. When my father passed away, all the great many times mom was in the hospital, to her death, those tears got cried into sun-warmed horse.
The biggest gift when it comes to creativity and horses is the way that being with horses takes you out of your head and puts you firmly in the moment. They respond when you are there, present with them, and being with them can teach you how to be there with them. Horses feed off of our energy and they also know how to ground you so you can effectively get through the day. This is why horses are such an important part of my creativity and I look forward to bringing that to you.
Would you like to help the horses and the homestead?
If you would like to help support the work I do on the homestead with local, sustainable food, as well as the healing and creative work I do with the horses, I’ve put together a wish list of items that would greatly help us. Click on the button to check it out. Thank you for thinking of us.
