I saw the best equestrians during my lifetime created by hard work and perseverance,

Bonds with equines of all breeds and colors, along with friends who come and go, but, only the true bonds will last a lifetime,

Who have been thrown into the sky like they were nothing more than a feather,

Who have been kicked more times then the years they have been alive,

Who have been dragged by the stirrups of their saddles or a lead-rope in their hand,

Who have been stepped on and pushed around by horses ten times their size,

Who have been brave enough to get back in the saddle, only to get thrown off again,

Who have been able to forgive things that were impossible to forget,

Who have been given the gift to look past ones’ faults and see the potential within,

Who have given and received the greatest gift of them all, a friendship,

Who have been able to give a friendship to a horse that was said to be dangerous and put down,

Who have been able to earn the trust of a horse that could not even trust its own kind,

Who have been able to turn the most scared and hurt into some of the most safe and fearless,

Who have been freed from the pain and sorrow in ones’ life because of one simple friendship,

Who have been shown true kindness and compassion without any words,

Who have taken the time to learn a different language, one that few people really understand and appreciate the beauty of this unspoken language,

Who have learned to stop and listen to what someone is trying to say, all to see the perspective of what is trying to be said,

Who have put in so much effort to figure out how to effectively communicate with the horse,

Who have put their horse before them and gave the horse all they can give,

Who have lived in a shack while their horses lived in a palace,

Who have given up so much to travel around the world all to teach and learn about the majestic creature they love so much,

Who have stayed in one city for a day and the next had to be in a different one hours away,

Who have gone day to day competing for a living only getting paid when they place in the top,

Who have paid thousands of dollars in entry fees for clinics and competitions and lessons,

Who have spent hours of the day trying to get their horse to understand what is being asked of them,

Who have repeated one request of the horse at the same consistency and stopped not when the horse preformed the request but when the horse made the slightest attempt to try to understand what they are being asked,

Who have taken the time to let their horse make a mistake to allow them to learn from it,

Who have taken these mistakes and turned them into not a thought to dread, but one that would only turn into more work,

Who have figured out that their pride should never get in the way of the way they love their horse,

Who have learned that their passion for horses is the power behind the ability to work with horses,

Who have realized why cowboys consider themselves philosophers,

Who have finally understood the meaning of a horse,

After working with horses for many years on end then one can begin to understand the horse,

Who have had to deal with people who do not know what they are talking about when it comes to the sport equestrians take seriously,

Who have learned to hold their tongue because it is not worth the argument,

Who have cried for days on end at the loss of an irreplaceable friend that was taken to run free in the lush grasses of heaven,

Who have taken all that they have learned and tried to improve on themselves and their horses,

Who call themselves equestrians for a reason,

Who are proud of what they do and will always do,

Who know that when there is no one to turn to they always can turn to a horse,

Who look into the mirror and are able to see themselves whenever they are near their horse, because any equestrian knows that when they look into the eye of a horse they can see themselves stare right back at them,

Equestrians, that is what we are called and that is who we will always be.