I may only be 18, but I would like to think that I see certain aspects of life differently than most adults would see it. I may have my moments that I act like a teenager, but for the majority, I would say I carry myself with respect and maturity.

Something about myself that most people don’t understand, or think I am a lunatic for is seeing potential in a situation that may seem hopeless. Trust me, sometimes I think I’m crazy too. Here in the past couple days, I was visiting with a horse that I have known for the past 3 or 4 years. I have always had a soft spot for the big awkward looking guy. He isn’t proportionate, his head is too big for his body. His legs are so long, and he just looks dumb to be honest. Not only does he just look like a moose, he also has had a lot of issues with his feet, back, and his weight.

When I showed up at this barn the other day, I looked at this big gangly looking horse. He was around a hundred pounds under weight, but it wasn’t the owners fault. She was paying the owner of the barn to take care of him and he is only getting 2 flakes of hay daily and maybe a scoop of grain. This horse is 17 plus hands tall. So all of my horse people reading this you can imagine what this horse looked like. He still had a spark in his eyes and he didn’t take a lame step. As I watched him go around I started to think about what would need to be done in order to get him back to where he needs to be. I started to see all of the potential, but I knew that it would take a long time in order to actually get him to where he can be ridden, and to where he would be looking great. In my head, I laid out a plan.

Sadly his owner is having a hard time seeing what I am seeing. Ever since she got this horse, she has been told by every trainer that she has ridden under that he can’t be what she wants, and that he will never amount to anything. As an equestrian, being told that really kills your confidence, at least for most people. At one point I was like her, I believed what everyone was telling me and I let my confidence get so low that I wanted to just quit all together.

Through a lot of tough experiences with one of my trainer, who completely destroyed my character, I learned how to rebuild myself and in the process, I gained an attitude that makes me want to prove all of those people wrong. So even hearing his owner wanting to give up on him, I told her this:

“Every horse has a purpose, we just have to find out what it is.”

I stand behind what I said. No human, animal, or any creature was made with no purpose. All of us have been made to do something, but life is going and figuring out what it is. I have never fallen into that trap that my life is going to be a load of nothing. I can’t fall into that mind set. No matter what, we all have a purpose.

If this horse couldn’t do anything, he would have told us a long time ago. The second day that I went out and saw him, I got the opportunity to put him in a bridle and do some ground driving with him. Now, I had never done it before, and honestly didn’t know how; but I had a general idea. I attached the driving reigns and led him into the arena. I stood behind him off to the side and asked him to walk forward. I held the reigns in my hand, much like I would have held them if I was on his back. He immediately went into a fantastic head set and began to walk forward. He carried him-self well, changed direction greatly and did everything I asked. I was freaking out on the inside because I was so proud of him.

It was in that moment when I watched his head drop down that I looked at him, and he looked at me and I could see that willingness in his eyes. I could see that he wanted to do this that he wanted to be good. I told myself that I can’t give up on this horse and that I have to keep trying. Even I have heard people say that I cannot save every horse, and I know that it is a true statement, but I am going to try. You can’t save every person that has cancer, but you try right? This isn’t any different.

I might not be able to do it, but I surly am going to try.