A few months ago, if you had told me that at nearly 50 years old, I'd be spending my free time volunteering to shovel manure, I probably would have laughed. Yet here I am, happier than I can remember and wondering why I waited so long to answer a calling that had been whispering to me for years.
I've felt drawn to horses for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Texas, I had a little exposure to them at various summer camps. I even tried a tiny bit of barrel racing when I was young.
But lately, as my spiritual and healing practices deepened, especially through energy work and Reiki, that pull became stronger. It wasn't really about riding. In fact, I had mixed feelings about riding horses at all. I've often questioned what consent looks like when we're asking an animal to carry us.
What I longed for was simply to be around them.
Reawakening a dream
I'd heard stories about Reiki practitioners working near horses and how the animals seemed to participate in the healing process in their own mysterious way. There’s even research that suggests spending time with horses can help people feel calmer and encouraging a more regulated nervous system.
Still, for years, being around horses remained a distant dream. Horses were just these things I admired from afar without any real idea how to bring them into my life.
Then one random Facebook post changed everything.
Snagging the opportunity
A local therapist I'd been following, Christi Piker, announced an event at a local farm combining psychotherapy and equine connection. I don't think I've ever registered for anything faster.
That event introduced me to Laughing Buck Farm, home to nine horses, a mule, several goats, chickens, rabbits, and some of the largest pigs I've ever seen. More importantly, it gave me my first real opportunity to reconnect with horses.
I hugged them. I breathed with them. I stood quietly beside them. I connected without words.
And something inside me immediately recognized that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
Jumping in with both (surgically repaired) feet
For years, I had questioned whether this attraction to horses was spiritually guided or just some strange fascination. That day answered the question for me. The feeling was so strong and so familiar that it felt less like discovering something new and more like remembering something I'd forgotten.
Then the question quickly became: How do I do this more often?
As it turned out, Laughing Buck regularly utilizes volunteers, so I began helping with their adaptive riding program. While the experience was wonderful, I soon realized that my nervous system was craving something quieter.
Ironically, volunteering showed me that riding might be the best way to learn horse behavior, build trust, and stay safe around these magnificent animals. So, I started taking lessons.
Who says we can't start a completely new hobby at 50?
My body certainly had some opinions about the decision. Between joint fusions in both feet, a total ankle replacement, spinal issues, and arthritis in more joints than I care to count, horseback riding challenges me physically in ways I didn't expect.
But it's getting me outside. It's helping me build new friendships. It's exercising my brain and teaching me entirely new skills.
And it's introducing me to creatures that I remain convinced are either angels, aliens, or some combination of both.
The freedom connection
Shortly after I started volunteering and riding, I received my first Akashic Records reading from Sophia Maria Broussard. For those unfamiliar, the Akashic Records are an energetic library that contains information about your soul's journey, patterns, and potential.
In my reading, one theme surfaced repeatedly: I rely on my logical brain almost all the time. Too much, perhaps.
Sophia spoke about freedom and the need to step outside the box I've built around myself. When she asked when I feel most calm, centered, and authentically myself, I immediately talked about the horses.
In many spiritual traditions, horses symbolize freedom, power, and movement. She explained that my connection to them made perfect sense. My soul recognizes them as kindred spirits. They embody the very freedom I've been seeking.
Manure happens
These days, I'm not only taking riding lessons, but I've also started volunteering to muck paddocks for a couple hours every week. I would get sad leaving the farm after my one-hour lesson. I wanted more time with the horses but not necessarily from the horses.
I wanted an opportunity to give back. To serve. To care for the space and the people making my dream possible.
And if that means picking up poop, then hand me a wheelbarrow.
Even better, this unexpected journey has begun weaving itself into the work I do through Akamai Healing. Earlier this month, Christi and I hosted an equine connection and sound healing event at Laughing Buck Farm. I provided the sound bath in the hay barn while the horses observed from nearby.
Watching them respond was fascinating.
One of my favorite horses, Ranger, seemed tuned in throughout the entire experience. He was especially captivated by the drumming. Another horse, Opal, was drawn to the ocean drum. Poppy, the horse I feel connected to the most, stood by watching silently.
Following the breadcrumbs
Many of us have a persistent longing, an interest, a curiosity, or a dream that refuses to go away. We dismiss it because it seems impractical, weird, expensive, or too late.
But what if that longing is a breadcrumb? What if it's your spirit trying to point you toward freedom?
Pay attention to what repeatedly calls to you. Notice where your nervous system softens. Notice what activities make time disappear. Notice the places where your body exhales before your mind understands why. Our bodies often recognize home long before our brains do.
It's never too late to begin. It’s never too late to learn. And it’s never too late to follow the strange, beautiful pull of your soul.
Sometimes freedom arrives on four hooves.