In case you didn’t recognize the name, that’s Don Quixote’s horse.  Certainly, the kind of horse we refer to as a “saint.”

I can only imagine that Don Quixote, the dreamer, would be feeding him more if he lived in our time.

Nevertheless, I identify with Don Quixote.  I am a dreamer too.  And most of my dreams revolve around horses.  Many of my dreams have not come true, but they have taught me lessons about patience and forgiveness and acceptance.  Lessons that help me in my work with horses, every day.

My parents had this Salvador Dali print hanging in their dining room

 

Just like Don Quixote, broken dreams haven’t kept me from being a dreamer. I have dreams for myself and my clients, and my horses, and my clients’ horses. Against all odds, I have dreams for all the equines everywhere. Knowing how fragile they are, I wonder sometimes how I can keep my dreams alive for all of us.  It doesn’t stop me from dreaming, though.

I only wish I had a Sancho Panza (many trainers do).  So I try to carry a little bit of Sancho Panza into the ring myself, to balance my Don Quixote, and so that I can remember to laugh while I dream, and to support all my friends and clients who are dreaming, too.