A few days ago I received an email asking what was happening with my novel in progress.  A reply and second email enlightened me to the fact that the person asking was Danielle Silvestri, author of Dancing Hooves.

The idea for this book formed when I was studying in 2003/2004.  I’ve been writing it since then and despite having planned to finish the novel in 2009, find I’m still quite a way from that!

Danielle’s emails commented on how being stagnant in writing for a time isn’t a bad thing: it allows you time to mature and come back and improve on something.

Perhaps you have a dream that’s been sitting stagnant for awhile… so much so that you’re not sure it’ll ever come to pass.  Dreams are placed on our heart for a reason – it’s dangerous not to hope.  Anything that is so big that it seems impossible, great!  That means it’s a dream from God that can only be achieved with His help.

Pausing for awhile when ‘life get’s in the way’, doesn’t mean the end of a dream.  Keep on dreaming.

“If I had a horse, I’d ride off in the sunset, where dreams, and shadows lie. To a life, where pain and sorrow don’t exist, and to where hopes, and dreams become reality.” – Lindsay Turcotte

We had a Care for Horses workshop this week for the Certificate II and III equine students that I help to teach. One area the students looked at is neglect and horse welfare, with some questions based around the equine organisation, Project Hope.

That got me thinking about neglect and horse welfare in general and I thought it worth a post on such equine organisations. Perhaps your passion is to see horses restored to the physical condition they should be in, rather than the one that they sometimes find themselves in.

Organisations such as the RSPCA and Project Hope can be heartbreaking. Such a job that can showcase so graphically how cruel and ignorant horse owners can be is not for the faint hearted. However, if this is where you feel called to be, perhaps pursuing volunteer work in such an organisation would be a start.

Being organisations, the larger ones – such as the RSPCA – may have the opportunity to offer a limited number of paid positions, which may be able to be worked towards once you have a foot in the door by volunteering. When considering the health of horses, knowledge in the areas of wound care, nutrition and exercise may be of benefit to help restore equines to their full potential.

Consider the likes of short courses or even doing a subject here and there at a local TAFE or university to assist in this area if you find you are lacking.

“If your horse says no, you either asked the wrong question, or asked the question wrong.” – Pat Parelli

tag: equine education, horse welfare, short course, online course