An Abundance of Blessings

Some time about last Tuesday, I was browsing Craigslist looking to see if people listed rabbits for sale on there. (I was wanting to post mine - long story). Just in passing, under Farm and Garden, I saw SADDLE BLANKETS $30. Clicked on it, and it was actually a stack of saddle pads and cover blankets. So next day I call the number and let the guy know I'm interested, and that I'd be in town over the weekend. Sunday afternoon in the rain, I roll into his place after having called him 20 minutes prior to give a heads up I'm on my way. He has me pull around back to a shed where he keeps his stuff. He opens the door and there is literally PILES of bridles, halters, hackamores, harness, brushes, combs, you name it. (But no saddles.) Turns out the guy used to train horses but got out of the biz about 8 years ago and is just now selling his stuff. So not only did I get the stack of pads and blankets, he threw in a halter, leather bridle, bit, and reins, leather breast plate, 2 brushes, 2 combs, and a rubber feed tub, all for $40. Forty dollars!! Incredible!! I don't think you could find any ONE of those items (less the grooming gear) for that much!! Praise the Lord!! It was even the kind of bit Annie is familiar with. Although, he did have a fantastic bridle with a snaffle bit that was identical to the bridles some of the wranglers used back at the ranch: rope reins and a lead rope all in one. I really, really like that style. Of course, I'd have no use for it with Annie, but maybe some day if I get a green horse I need to break or something ;-)

I was listening to an acquaintance talk Sunday morning about a pod cast he'd recently listened to by Kat Kerr, talking about heaven and that God loves us so much that he has created our mansions in heaven down to the smallest detail with the things that we love, and that all our gifts and talents will be used in full force. And I doubt this acquaintance knew enough details about me to use the specific things I love as examples, but that is exactly what he did. He spoke of me having an art studio with any tool or supply I could ever need, and getting to train horses, if that was something I loved (it is), and that I would bless others with that gift I've been given. It touched my heart so deeply I began to weep. When I was very young and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, a horse trainer was one of the things I replied. That was something I never took all that seriously, never believing it could actually happen. With my acquaintance's spoken word stirring my heart, I believe I could be again. Me, who knows so little about horses right now, could learn, and become a GREAT trainer, because it is my gifting and because of my relationship with God, and I could bless many with the horses I train. What a BEAUTIFUL thought. ~

Hold, Please.

Well, I did it. I bit the bullet. I wrote a check for half of Annie's sale price as a deposit until I can get the rest of my funds together to move her to her new home on the south side of town. Her current owners are being extremely gracious in allowing me a) to pay half now on good faith that I'll follow through with the purchase, b) to house her in her current setting despite their desire to populate her current pen with a couple milk goats, and c) eventually transport her to her new home almost 8 miles away. They are being VERY generous. I am chipping in for hay til I get the go ahead to settle her in her new home.

And so it begins!

Now, to research tack options and look for some grooming equipment.....

Finding Grace

The same day I heard God tell me to buy a horse, I go home and post to Facebook: "I must be crazy.... I'm thinking of buying a horse!"

As it turns out, an acquaintance of mine I met at church a few years back has a horse she and her husband are wanting to sell. She commented, "Hey! We have a horse for sale!"

Well, golly.

I didn't have my expectations set very high, because, come on, who buys the first horse they try? How could a person find a good fit on the first try? But I went with an open mind.

She's a 22 year-old unpapered quarter horse, a retired roper. In her younger days she was a pretty good heel horse in team roping competitions. Turns out that one of my supervisor's sons had ridden her for a number of years while she was still owned by my acquaintance's parents.

I rode her a couple times, and while I am terribly rusty on horseback given that I've not ridden since a western horsemanship class my last semester in college - EIGHT years ago - I believed her to be a good horse, and it was I who needed the work. She has a few not so classy habits that need curbing, like stepping forward while I mount and trying to eat grass along the road side while being ridden, but as I gain confidence and leadership, I should be able to lead her out of that.

Oh, and the kicker?

Her given name is Grace :-)

What's In a Name?

So, as I was excitedly poring through horse ads on Craigslist, clicking on likelier candidates, I saw a few that I thought sounded pretty nice. One was a sorrel mare about 12 years old. Just on a whim I contacted the owner and naturally, she'd already been sold as the ad was a few weeks old and she was asking a very reasonable price for her. I think they were up in Kalispell area, so it wasn't anything I would be getting realistically anyway.

So, later, as I'm driving back from Bozeman, I'm excitedly poring over the details in my head about what this horse God said I should buy... mare, at least 12, chestnut or sorrel.... and her name.... gee, I don't know God, what IS her name?

Cedar Annie.

Uh, okay. Cedar Annie it is. Not crazy about it, but okay.

When I get home, I decide to go online and look up the significance of cedar and what the name Annie means. What I find is this:

Cedar, in the Bible, is used for purification and preservation. The latter can be seen in use today in cedar chests to keep out moths and other chewing vermin. Annie, the diminutive form of Ann(e), of English origin, means "gracious, merciful". So, I believe, that this horse is going to be a means of purifying (refining) me, and is God's way of bestowing grace and mercy upon me.

Wow. That's a bit weighty. But I am eager with anticipation to see the transformation I will undergo in the refining process. :-)