Twin Spirits
- Sharon GatesThese poems are for your enjoyment. I have written a couple of them and A Horse's Prayer was written by my mother. The others are ones I like. If the author's name is not on the poem, it is because I do not know who it is. Please email me at wildwood reining@telus.net with your comments.
A Horse's Prayer - Florence Gates
The Lonely Ride - Sharon Gates
Twin Spirits
- Sharon Gates
Don't Cry For The Horses - Brenda Riley-Seymore
In Memory of Ruffian - Prefontaine
O Maker and Keeper of Horses, please hear me
For I sorely need your thy help.
Give my long and spindly coltish legs fine bone
Make my barrel long, my chest both wide and deep.
Give me wide-set eyes and nostrils flaring outward.
O, give me this!
O Lover and Watcher of Horses, please hear me
For I need thee!
Give me grass and range to run, not smooth and padded for I need the obstacles
That I may learn to stumble not.
Give me fresh air and water clean
That I may always have the good clean blood
That thou created in me.
O Master and Guardian, hear me,
For I call and need thy care.
Give me when I am strong enough to ride, a trainer kind and calm.
Find me a gentle hand to guide,
A firm and purposeful one to right me when I am wrong
O Maker, give me a rider
Who is at least as wise as I!
~ Florence Gates ~ copyrighted
***
If you ever feel discouraged,
Take your horse out of his stall;
Slap a saddle on his back;
Step on and leave it all.
Let the cares of daily living
All be blown from your mind
By a freer way of thinking
Than you have left behind.
Feel the sun upon your body
And the wind upon your face;
Let your faith be in yourself
And all the human race.
Know the peace of open country
Shared with a faithful friend;
You’ll leave with spirit lifted
Until you come again.
Let your horse be your companion
And your Maker be your guide.
As you set your pace to His
On this, your lonely ride.
~ Sharon Williams ~
copyrighted 1990
***
He rode into her life
And she into his
Like twin spirits
Meeting on familiar trails
Seldom touching
Yet always sharing each other
In true friendship
And warm compassion.
They ride side by side
And single file
With equal ease.
Sometimes hurting and despairing
But never angry;
Often laughing and triumphant
Always trusting
And completely comfortable.
If one rider falls,
Will the other stumble
With indecision
And turn aside so as not to see
The pain?
Will the bond be broken the?
Will riding out be as easy
As riding in?
Or will the sure-footed one
Extend a strong hand
And offer support
Until the balance is regained?
Of course.
For friendship is part strength,
Part vulnerability,
And love.
Perhaps they will someday ride
Along separate paths
That may not cross again.
And with heartfelt encouragement
And no regrets
Continue on chosen trails
Apart, but warmed
By each other.
So side by side, single file
Or with miles between
The bond endures –
Needing, yet not needing,
Always there
Until the sun has set upon
The last ride
And beyond.
~ Sharon Williams ~
copyrighted 1989
Don't cry for the horses
That life has set free
A million white horses
Forever to be
Don't cry for the horses
Now in God's hands
As they dance and they prance
To a heavenly band
They were ours to borrow
But never to keep
As they close their eyes
Forever to sleep
Their spirits unbound
On silver wings they fly
A million white horses
Against a blue sky
Look up into heaven
You'll see them above
The horses we lost
The horses we loved
Manes and tails flying
They gallop through time
They were never yours
They were never mine
Don't cry for the horses
They will be back some day
When our time has come
They will show us the way
Do you hear that soft nicker
Close to your ear
Don't cry for the horses
Love the ones that are here!
Brenda Riley-Seymore
***
In '73, at the end of the year,
Big Red finished his stunning career.
Critics said the chances were slim,
that there'd soon be another with a stature of him.
But few months went by when at Belmont track,
the crowd was enchanted by a streak of black.
Just a baby in a maiden race,
a record was equaled at an easy pace.
This horse, this champ was not male;
it was a filly these crowds did hail.
Hearts she broke, and dreams she tore;
never was a horse like her before.
Humiliating the best of the best,
she tore up the track from east to west.
The filly handed out defeat,
and every mare she met, she beat.
On the kingly sport's other side,
the division of colts had found its pride.
His coat a rugged chocolate brown,
few of his type could take him down.
A race of the century was arranged,
the two would meet with history changed.
Eye to eye; princess to prince,
a race like this has not been since.
The princess listed at two to five,
by a crowd to see their heroine thrive.
They broke together, boy and girl;
the great match race was about to unfurl.
Neither horse would lose the least,
the heart commander of this rugged beast.
To the backstretch the royalty came,
awaiting the hope of eternal fame.
But the princess harbored plans of her own;
to his majesty, her tail would be shown.
All eyes were on the darker bay;
with such a force she pulled away!
So loud the massive crowd did cheer,
there was a sound they could not hear.
With a sudden, grueling crack,
the princess was falling back!
The announcer's horror stricken voice,
made the call without a choice;
"Ruffian has broken down!"
The world was left with but a frown.
But down the track she tried to hop;
that filly was not going to stop!
Her heart to strong to let her give in;
she ran 'til her ankle was dangling by skin.
Her jockey pulled with all his might,
but could not stop her futile fight.
While her heart fought on, her body could not,
as the fates wove out her tragic plot.
Later that night the doctors slaved,
in hopes the filly might be saved.
Finally they set a cast,
and watched as the sedatives passed.
Amidst a race, the filly woke,
gaining again with every stroke!
And all the doctors watched with fright,
as she flung her legs with all her might.
The cast was torn, each screw and bolt;
she had to go back and catch the colt!
A chance at life, there would have been,
if it not for her will to win.
Since her time, there's been many a star:
Slew, John Henry, the mighty Cigar.
But still the legend burns like fire,
of the horse whose heart would never tire.
This precious life could not be saved;
she rests beneath a flowered grave.
The needle met the noble hoss,
and cost the world its greatest loss.
One more round of blood to pump,
her heart gave one last mighty thump.
With history lurking by her side,
she gave her final breath and died.
- -by "Prefontaine"
***
Now I lay me
down to sleep,
Hay in the stalls is ankle deep,
My mares are standing with their
foals,
The geldings are now gentle souls.
As we approach
into the night,
I pray Guardian Angels will take
flight...
And nestle down into the hay...
Protecting them till comes the day.
Let neither
colic, cough nor croup,
Disturb the slumber of this group,
Let mares and foals come to no
harm,
Bless the stallions in the barn.
And Lord as I
rise before the sun,
Let my chores be thankful ones,
Feeding hay and pouring grain
Brushing coats and grooming manes.
As I stand and
watch them eat,
I marvel at these gentle beasts
Or watch them running, wild and
free
It's your Creation that I see.
(author unknown)
I shall wear
diamonds
And a wide brimmed straw hat
With ribbons and flowers on it
And I shall spend my social
security
on white wine and carrots
And sit in the alley way of my barn
And listen to my horses breathe.
I will sneak out in the middle of a
summer night
And ride the dappled mare
Across the moonstruck meadow,
If my old bones will allow.
And when people come to call,
I will smile and nod,
As I walk them past the gardens to
the barn
And show, instead, the flowers
growing there.
In stalls fresh-lined with straw
I will learn to shovel and sweat
and wear
hay in my hair as if it were a
jewel.
And I will be an embarrassment to
all
who look down on me
Who have not yet found the peace in
being free
To love a horse as a friend,
A friend who waits at midnight hour
With muzzle and nicker and patient
eyes
For the kind of woman I will be
When I am old.
(author unknown)
Ever since I can remember I have wanted
to be free,
To roam the gorge and mountain tops
with no-one chasing me,
I've longed to travel to a place that nature holds to heart,
and live a life of freedom that no-one
can tear apart.
to run along the beaches and leave hoof prints in the sand,
and feel the water splashing, oh now
wouldn't that be grand,
To munch the fresh new pasture as it breaks through natures soil,
Or even have my ears scratched by a friend forever loyal.
But time is running out and I feel
darkness has awoke,
To cover all the hope and all the dreams
of which I've spoke,
I feel him walk toward me with that needle
in his hand,
I close my eyes forever, leaving hoof prints
in the sand.
