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The definition of a gift: a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present.
If you have followed my columns over the last couple of years you might remember the time when I talked about our adventures of showing a horse for the first time at the fair with my oldest daughter.
Often people will ask how a family that has no background with horses and certainly does not live on a farm got into horses. Well, that adventure started as a birthday present for that oldest daughter on her eighth birthday with my co-worker at the time. The plan and the gift was to take six horse riding lessons in Valley Springs on her farm.
Well, six lessons turned into riding lessons over the last five years……that turned into a love for horses by all three of my girls…. that turned into showing two horses at the fair for the last three years.
This past summer, we were preparing for another year at the county fair by making weekly or bi-weekly trips to Valley Springs to ride horses on the farm for the two oldest girls. The third girl was along for anything she could do horse-related from feeding treats, to brushing manes, to sneaking a chance to ride anytime she could.
The original birthday gift was taken one step further when that now retired co-worker of mine (who turned into dear friend of my family) approached us to offer a gift we never saw coming. With her plans to travel more in retirement, she offered to gift the two horses to my children for them to own.
When she made this offer, I think this is one of few times in my life I was at a loss for words. I never thought I would have the means to give a horse to my children, let alone two horses. These aren’t just any horses; they are the best horses with kids and truly gentle giants that my girls had fallen in love with over the last five years. (Gentle giants unless you saw our Toffee girl at the county fair this year…she does get a little buddy sour when she can’t find her pasture mate, then she turns a little sassy!)
This gift came with a few challenges as we live in town with no acreage or place to put two horses. But this is a gift that keeps giving. When I shared the news of this beautiful gift to our good friends here in Pipestone, they in turn offered to keep our horses on their farm where their children could also enjoy them.
The physical gift of the horses is extremely generous – but this gift is so much more. These two horses have taught my children hard work, unconditional love, confidence to step outside of comfort zones, and the true beauty of a horse. They have had to work through frustration on days that it didn’t go well and how to love an animal even when chores need to be done in the rain or snow.
Above that is something I cannot measure. What has resulted from this generous deed goes beyond the physical gift and anything I can measure. It is the true understanding for my children of the gift of giving. Often, I think we run through our days without stopping to realize how much we can affect others around us. This gift has left a hard imprint on the hearts of my children. They watched our dear friend give away two horses that she loved dearly, so that they could have the opportunity to call them their own.
I don’t think I will even be able to repay her for this gift, but I will continue to make sure that we take the very best possible care of the horses. At the same time, I will soak in all the moments of watching my children grow with the help of those horses.