A Heart for Horses

The benevolence for and keen curiosity of animals that Lilly has continues to be one of her most defining characteristics at just 18 months old. Most notably, her little heart is full of a big love for horses. This toddler girl has a passion for all things pony. When it's quiet, I can often find her cheerily pretending with her play stables and horse figurines or delighting wholeheartedly at every horse picture in our books. Other days, she wants to ride and race on her wooden rocking horse, and whinny, bray and neigh the day away. I truly have a teeny tiny equestrian enthusiast.

Because Lilly was born at the onset of the pandemic, we have never been able to get her in front of an actual horse. Petting zoos, the real zoo, stables and friend's farms were all locked down and closed up. She hasn't known anything different though so she has happily settled for pictures and videos of real horses. The biggest luxury for her has been seeing horses from a distance while standing on the side of a rural gravel road outside the city limits.

That all changed this past weekend when we went up to our family's lake house. Our little cabin is nestled in prairie country and there is a family nearby who has a horse named Jessie. Usually Jessie is out in the pasture, grazing on grass and greeting visitors at the fence, but each time we had been up over the last year and a bit, Jessie hadn't been there. We thought it was likely because of the pandemic or we thought maybe Jessie had been sold or worse, passed away. My husband and I really hoped that with this trip up, we would find Jessie there once again. As we drove by on our way to our cabin, the beautiful black mare was there standing tall in the summer sun. I felt giddy - I couldn't wait to introduce Lilly to Jessie.

That night after dinner, we walked down to Jessie's little pasture and it was the beginning of something special. Lilly was thrilled to be going to meet a real horse. She was neighing the whole way down to Jessie. Once Jessie came into her view, Lilly was bouncing in my arms with excitement and squealing with glee. As we got closer, Lilly clung a little closer to me. Jessie is a big horse and Lilly had never really conceptualized the size of a horse before.

Safely, she admired Jessie from a small distance in my arms. The next morning, Lilly woke up and the first thing she said was, "neigh". She couldn't wait to go back to see Jessie. We cut some apple slices to bring along with us for Jessie to snack on. We started out on the same path down to Jessie's pasture and as we got closer again, the gleeful squeals returned once Jessie was in Lilly's sights. Lilly held up the container of apple slices and babbled excitedly as if to say, "Hi Jessie! Look Jessie! This is for you! I brought you this!"

Over the course of the weekend, we would visit Jessie twice a day. Each morning we would head down to the pasture after breakfast and then again in the evening after dinner. Apple or carrot snacks were always packed for Jessie, too. Lilly would happily choose the snacks from the fridge for her before we left the cabin, and sometimes Lilly would have a little nibble on Jessie's treats before we got there. Each time we approached the little farm, she would hold up the snacks for Jessie to see from afar and squeal with delight. Just as cheerfully as Lilly was, Jessie would acknowledge us coming with a head nod and then quickly turn and head from wherever she was in the pasture to meet us at the fence line.

With each visit, Lilly garnered Jessie's affections and displayed growing courage. By the end of the weekend, Lilly readily held an open-palmed hand full of treats for Jessie to grab. She barely bat an eye when Jessie would try to nibble her little fingers. Gently, Lilly would brush Jessie's nose with her fingers and she even let Jessie come in close for a few nice nuzzles to the chest. It was absolutely incredible to witness how brave and natural my little Lilly was with Jessie, this gentle giant.

There can be something so sacred between a horse and human. As has been said of a horse by her rider, "I am her eyes, she is my wings. I am her voice, she is my spirit." There is an intangible connection. After seeing the love Lilly has for Jessie, my husband and I are now seriously considering selling everything and taking up an acreage so we can get her a horse of her own one day. Nothing delights my heart more as a mother than witnessing pure joy on the face of my sweet little girl. I am already planning many more visits to Jessie for Lilly. I can only hope and pray that these little moments are the foundation of some of her best childhood memories.