My passion is, of course, the Horse. My passion for horses has truly come to me within the past 5 years.
When I was a kid, the closest I came to a horse was a pony at the Elementary School Spring Fair, uncoordinated, I went to climb on the pony and promptly fell off the other side. Humiliated, I walked away.
I had a childhood friend that loved horses and when we had play dates, she liked to run around and act like she was a horse. I went along with her game, but would have preferred pretending to be a cat.
Years later I did go horseback riding and once again was intimidated by the horse that would hardly move for me. I decided to give my boys horseback lessons at the local stable and thought when they were completed with their lessons I would learn to ride. That never happened, life got in the way.
About five years ago when we sold our house, we decided to find something with land. Every place that we looked had a view of horses, horses in the neighboring properties. It was springtime, the weather was beautiful and these wonderful animals were always coming over to investigate us. The true beauty of the horses brought tears to my eyes; so tall and sweet with big brown eyes and ears that would twitch back and forth.
I would stand inside of a house and look out the window at the horses and start to cry. Now, I am a realtor and have shown plenty of houses with horses, this was nothing new to me. But, the perspective from a buyer's eyes looking at what could possibly be "my view" was overwhelming.
It got to the point, that whenever we looked at a property or walked the land with horses nearby, I would wear my sunglasses so my tears would not show.
We did purchase a property and the neighbor had ponies. Now, I did not know the difference between a horse or pony or a gelding or colt. I didn't know the difference between a quarter horse and a thoroughbred, standard bred or draft horse; but I learned. Horses became my passion. I learned how to ride, acquired some horse of my own and took an Equine Management class at Rutgers University.
Some of my happiest moments have been spent out in the pasture with a horse, not riding or training, just hanging out, maybe doing some grooming or feeding them carrots. These beautiful, regal animals are extremely intelligent, love to work for us and please us. They do not like to be alone and prefer the company of at least one other horse. Grass is their food of choice and they like to be treated with respect and kindness. Truly amazing to me, my passion, the horse...Happy Trails to You.
Photos and content property of Christine O'Shea 2009 all rights reserved.
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