I have been around horses for many years and I'm fully aware of their positive affects on our mental health, horses have always been a huge part of my life, riding across the countryside or just being with the horses plays a huge part in keeping me grounded, a stressy day at work was always finished off with time at the yard. During photoshoots for my Equihandee products I would have children
come to my yard and spend time with the horses whilst having photos taken for my content. The parents always said their children's behaviour after the shoot was so much calmer. This was something that always stuck in my mind and I always felt that there was something else I should be doing. This was actually quite a few years ago but it always kept popping into my mind at random times.
Since 2019 I have been on a huge personal journey of discovery. I became quite ill during this time, I had brought Rich a 4 night stay in Rome for us but I was so unwell I wasn't sure if i was going to make it. If you have ever been to Rome you will know you walk everywhere, we were walking approx 6-9 miles a day. My body hurt so much, my feet were extremely sore and I felt terrible, but me being me thought it would pass. I remember asking the hotel for 9 pillows to sleep on, they looked at me like I had lost the plot. Having all those pillows helped me get some
sleep as my body pain was so bad.
But I was determined not to ruin our weekend, we did have a fantastic time but I'm not gonna lie I really struggled. I actually don't know how I managed to get through it. Upon my return I went to the doctors and I have the best doctor ever, she was great and this was the beginning of endless doctors appointments and different medication.
I finally had a diagnoses of Fibromyalgia, this illness is horrible, you never know what each day is going to bring, swollen painful hands and feet, body pain, electric shock pains (these are excruciating) painful skin, feeling dreadful, anxiety, fatigue, cognitive impairment, the list is endless and I take a huge amount of medication which I can't live without. You never know what life is going to throw at you.
But this has just made me more determined to achieve things, I have had to learn to slow down and listen to my body and this isn't something I've ever done! Everything I did was at 90 miles per hour and I would be doing 20 different things each day, I worked long hours, I'd be out of bed at the crack of dawn and hit the ground running and I believe this lifestyle has got me where I am today with this illness.
So this was why horses were so important to me, I didn't stop to think that they would be my support network throughout my life and then go on to help me with my business.
We all think horses are just there to be ridden but there is so much more to them, there is something so special about just being with them and breathing. They are constantly communicating and if you don't know how they communicate you will miss it.
I finally bit the bullet and signed up to take my Equine Facilitated Learning qualification and I was so excited.