Saddle Up

Courage is being scared to death… and saddling up anyway. — John Wayne

Tomorrow, we step into the Lunar New Year and the year of the Fire Horse. And I must say it rings a truth deep inside of me of how horses represent courage, freedom and independence that take me back to my childhood.

When I was just about 8, little did we know that a family visit to Missouri would end with us bringing a trailer full of pony’s home with us to California. 5 ponies to be exact. On all of our stops on the way home, my siblings and I would jump out of our station wagon and run back to check on them.

Of course, during those stops we had to decide on their names as well as which pony each of us would call our own. By the time we got home we had named our new friends, Buck, Sunday, Star, Beauty and Pee Wee. We had become deeply attached to them quickly.

I knew right away that Star pony would be mine. He had the most adorable, crooked star on his forehead and I could feel that he was my kindred spirit.  Pretty quickly I learned that Star Pony, like me, was pretty introverted and shy. Star had a streak of mustang in him and could run incredibly fast but, only if the other horses were running as well.

My parents quickly ended up buying a new home where we could have the horses there with us instead of keeping them at our Uncles house. We also then had many trails where we could ride straight from our corral. This brought even more change to our lives leaving our many friends in our suburban neighborhood. Moving to the country was scary at first, but we went along for the ride and found ourselves settling in.

In the beginning I couldn’t take Star out alone on rides because he just didn’t want to go out on his own and pulled back. I was frustrated and not being an experienced horse rider, totally not sure what to do. Thinking back now it is amazing how often my sisters and I were left to figure out the horses on our own.

I realize now that Star Pony gave me a new sense of being. Star made me realize that if the two of us were going to have independence, freedom and adventure we would need to stop always having to follow others.

It took time, and for me to build a strength within myself to bring Star and I to a place that we could find our own way of riding together. And I am happy to say that we eventually accomplished that goal.

I say all the time in gardening that in order to enjoy gardening you have to do you. You have to sometimes break away from what everyone else is doing in order to do what makes you happy. What brings joy into your heart. And along with being who we are meant to be we have to step out of our comfort zones to build confidence while trying things we have never done before.

In this week’s video I talk about growing herbs indoors and building self-confidence. They may not seem to go together but instead of buying dry herbs or store bought herbs what if you had them right there growing in your home to use when you needed them either for culinary or medicinal purposes? Food indeed for thought.

And as for Star Pony, sadly, as we grew too big for our ponies, my parents also divorced, we moved, and life completely changed. Star and all the ponies were sold, and my heart was broken. But I know that Star was put in my life for the time he was there for a reason. For a season. Star Pony was my Fire Horse, to remind me that I had a bit of mustang in me and could break out and do this life my own way.

I will be fondly thinking of him and our many adventures all those years ago as we ride through this Lunar Year of the Fire Horse. I hope that you can saddle up and find the fire you are looking to light in your life.

Plant often and with Love!

Cheri

Cheri Ruskus

Author, Creator and Growth Mentor