Consequences

(I'm doing a ritual dance in this one below)

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Magical

I just got done reading an autobiography about a horse-trainer. I loved it, and it made me once again realize how much I love horses and how much they affect my life for the better. I belive there is a spiritual connection between them and a human, if people let it happen. In college, I wrote many research papers about the use of horses in therapy. Horses are used in physical therapy for kids and people with cerebal palsy, autism and other physical and mental disabilities.

They are also used in psycho-therapy. When I did my research I found a place in Park City that worked with at-risk teens. They would get a group of them and would have to learn how to handle the horse. The leader of that group said that the horse would always mirror the teens personality. There are also prisons that allow inmates to train wild horses that are captured. And the statistics have shown that of the inmates that are allowed to train, only 1 out 10 are re-arrested vs other inmates which is like 1 out of 3 or something (don't quote me on the exact numbers).

ANYWAY.....what I'm getting at is that I love horses!! We've had horses all my life and its been great! There are certain times in my life that I can pin point how they have helped me. There is a power about them that can soothe a soul and its addicting! When I got home from my mission 4 years ago, I had problems with depression and anxiety, and my dad would always tell me to go work with the horses when I was feeling that way and when i followed his advice, it felt like the horses were somehow sucking the venom out of me that was making me depressed.

Once I'm riding, brushing, touching or even watching a horse, I am a truly happy person. All the stress about work, dating, money, or just anything disappears and I am able to relax and just be.

My favorite quote from the book I just read is:

"There is something magical about a girl and her horse." - Buck Branaman

Hot stuff

This is generally what I look like when I go to my horses.... sometimes i have long socks that stick out of my boots....I'm quite fashionable.....

Random Pictures

Sweet horse Rose. She pretty much bends the gate over to greet me. Cutie.

In Ecuador with some girls from one of the free health clinics we held.

Zip-lining in Mexico. It was SOOOO hot and humid. And don't mind my garments hanging out.

In Mexico on the beach. Paradise (until I got stung by jellyfish).

My sisters and I on Thanksgiving - right after Megan was born.

On a camp/canoe trip with friends in the Uintah's last summer. It was a blast until we got a $300 ticket for camping too close to the water.....LAME!

Getting caught in a rainstorm in Mexico. Such a good memory.

Heather, Ree, and I in NYC on the Staten Ferry Island.

In Ecuador surrounded by a herd of Alpaca's. I came home and wanted to buy one to add to my collection of goats and horse.....alas, my parents banned it from being on their property, so I didn't buy one....

Running the last leg of the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay Race that my sister MICHELLE got me into. It was horrid during the race, but now I think of it with a smile.

Some of the kids on the Columbian/Ecuadorian border. This clinic was incredible. It was chaotic and poverty stricken and I got huge ginormous bites ALL OVER my legs that I still have scars from. I would never take it back. Ever.

I was walking down the streets in Otavalo, Eucador and came across this!! haha