Henry's Story - (this is long...)

As you may have read, Henry is the acknowledged Love of My Life. He is a 6 year-old Paint gelding (Tobiano) who came into my life a little more than two years ago. Henry is totally blind. Having Henry in my life has really changed the way I look at things, or at least brought a fuzzy picture more into focus. Will this be a sappy post? Most likely. Turn away now if you are squeamish. But if you suspect you might believe in, well, things working out despite our intentions, read on...

We brought our Arab/Quarter mare to Circle C Ranch outside of Stillwater, MN, after boarding with friends for awhile. Boarding at someone's home, however, didn't work very well for us as we always felt like we were intruding on them when we showed up. We heard about Circle C through a forward from a friend-of-a-friend and went and checked it out. It was nice, clean, the horses looked well-cared-for and it was in our price range and desired location. But it wasn't a "Pony Club" or eventing barn. In fact, there seemed to be a range of disciplines there, including some mounted police. Interesting. There really weren't any jumps there to use, which is what Audrey and Bashira enjoyed. But I had this feeling...ok. Big deal. "Feelings"--harumph. I spoke with the owner and liked her. Still, just normal stuff, really. So we arranged to move our girl.

Fast forwarding: Shortly after we were there, I found a different part-time job that intrigued me (and that paid better than the gourmet cookware shop where I had been) at a museum in St.Paul. Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakotah Life. I had been a docent before I started a family and LOVED it! I have always been a "museum geek" and this was going to be a great fit for me and my family. So I jumped...As I got into the job, I discovered that this farm museum had no horse. How can a farm museum representing Minnesota life in the 1860s not have a horse!? So I thought I'd move Bashira out there, and then I could have the best of several worlds: my horse with me daily, free board, and the requisite horse on-site. (Not that there were many QuarAbs in MN in the 1860s, but I digress.) I called Jess (owner of Circle C) to tell her what I was thinking. Until this point, my interaction with her had been friendly but just passing stuff. Then things just started "clicking..."

Jess told me that she had a horse who had been injured during a training accident. She told me how much he loved attention from people and that he needed a "job," something to do. I agreed to take a look at him (keep in mind that my family is still quite new to this horse-thing. Honestly, my version of "looking at him" is this: is he pretty? Is he "nice?" When we bought Bashira, our first horse, our instructor/trainer/veterinarian "fixed us up." Thought I'd come clean now...) Really, for the museum we needed a pasture ornament. A safe pasture ornament. Yes, Henry was pretty. Jess came out to the museum to check out our facilities, fencing, etc. and to make sure it would meet Henry's needs. Then we jumped...


Henry came to the Gibbs and was a HUGE hit! He took to his celebrity role right away (with staff and guests), and seemed to genuinely LOVE his new gig.  I (and everyone who met Henry) was amazed at how well he navigated in his pasture. At how friendly and sweet he is. At how "nice" he is. I had seen other horses "off the track" who had "issues" with fear, anxiety, even anger. Surely if an animal had a reason to be "damaged, " it would be one who couldn't see? But Henry had been blessed to be in the hands of a WONDERFUL owner before...and Jess continued to provide him a loving, stable home even after he couldn't show. She didn't have to do that. One thing I've learned in this horse world is how "disposable" horses are: when they don't meet your needs any more, sell them and move on. Maybe because I'm a newbie, I could never understand that. Isn't the big thing with a horse the relationship you have with them? Anyway...Jess spent a long time grieving for Henry and his accident. But she never gave up on him. Then we moved to her barn and I took this museum job and it was all like it was supposed to work that way. Wow. All spring I kept reporting back to Jess how well Henry was doing, how many people were touched by his "second chance," and how MADLY in love I was falling with him. Henry was even receiving FAN MAIL from groups of school children! (I've never been so proud to be referred to as "The Horse Lady" either!) One day, she asked me if I would like to have Henry "for my own." I felt like I was eight years-old with pig tails popping out of the sides of my head as I said "YES! DEFINITELY YES!"

Well Henry and I were blissfully installed at the museum for two full seasons (the museum is only open from spring to end of October), but we would "go home" during the off-season. I completely loved my job there, from teaching the hundreds of kids that came for field trips (In addition to doing tours,I specialized in teaching them how to hand-dip beeswax candles, how to make homemade ice cream, and how to make corn husk dolls...) to exchanging stories with the folks of ALL ages that came through our gates. It's funny to remember how much I loved the Little House on the Prairie books and show as a kid, and how much I played "Half-Pint" in all my imaginings...Only to grow up into a 40-something playing pioneer woman all over again! (Life IS good!) My kids were able to spend the summers with me at the museum volunteering, too. It was an ideal setup! So why am I talking about all this in past tense?

Economics. As I said, the museum is only open six months out of the year. Horses eat and kids need stuff TWELVE months of the year. Dang. So I surfed. I looked for jobs in "travel and hospitality" to fill the other six months of the year. I looked for other museum jobs. I KNEW I didn't want to go back to retail; I wanted to think that "at my age" I had progressed to doing something beyond that, without compromising my investment with my kids. At the time, I only wanted something part-time. Then I stumbled across an ad for a regional airline hiring flight attendants. huh.

When I was in my twenties I had been intrigued with the idea for a brief time, but thought I was really too "educated" to be a "sky waitress" (since I had a big college degree in English and Spanish), and it didn't pay the big bucks I thought I should be making. ha ha. Funny how that all sounds to me now...(Anyone else out there been young and arrogant? And stupid?) SO over a glass (or two) of wine, my friend said "Why not try it?" And the wine said "huh."

FAST FORWARD: (Really, I know nothing about this post is fast, but...) Did you know that training to be a flight attendant is quite an investment of your time and energy? And that Flight Attendants do MUCH MUCH more than serve your cokes and clear your trash!? And that it's HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!? Well, now you do! My part-time-fancy turned into a full-time return to a career (a REAL one, really!) And as it turns out, it's working out very well for my whole family. But back to Henry...

In addition to my guilt and fears (real and imagined) about returning to work full time (I had stayed home with my kids besides the part-time-playing) and the effects that would have on my family, I had HUGE guilt over not being able to return to the museum for Henry's sake. How could I, in good conscience, NOT be there for him? It was a perfect fit and I loved every minute of it; so did he. But the reality of my finances was that I needed to do something full time, or sell Bashira. Not an option. And I believed (and still do) that the museum is not staffed with any other "horse people" with whom I would feel comfortable entrusting Henry's full-time care. Jess was (again) wonderful as I called her sobbing about what-to-do. Had I let her down, too? Thankfully, she is a wise woman. And a good friend. She assured me that Henry (and I) would ALWAYS have a home there. Oh God, she had NO idea how much I needed that! (Our barn is my Happy Place; a true sanctuary.)

A year later, I am flying around, loving the time I have at home (gone is the burnt-out mom...) and genuinely appreciating my time with my horses and barn friends. Henry is in the home he's always known, occasionally taking care of the whipper-snappers. I've been working with him in lessons on the ground to get ready to ride him. (Although, I can honestly say to all those people who asked me "Can you ride him?" that if I never got to ride him, that'd be okay, too. I don't ride my dog, either, and that certainly doesn't diminish my relationship with her!) I just feel SO privileged to learn all the things that Henry has to teach me: "it's no big deal," "let go and move on," "use your other resources" and "PLAY" to name just a few! I still feel guilty that I can't do both the museum and fly, but I have to be realistic. And that's okay. So if you've stuck with this post this long, please stay tuned for the continuing adventures of Henry and Kim. I hope it will continue to be a long and wonderful trip...Thanks for listening. (And Jess, if you're reading, Thanks for the BEST GIFT I've EVER received and for being such an AMAZING person!)