This week , our mom is transfer material from her dinosaur Macintosh computer to her PC . While doing so , she happen this article that appeared in the June 1980 issuance ofHorse Illustrated . It made her smile , so we asked if we could share it with you .
Confetti and Positive ThinkingNot everyone can say a horse changed the class of her life . I can .
Everything was go wrong . My marriage was failing . I was working retentive hours of overtime at a manufactory job I hated . I had no one to sing to . I had no faith in myself or my ability . Life simply was n’t worth living . It was other August in 1972 , and the 4 - atomic number 1 bazaar was in full swing . There was an undefended horse show scheduled for that eventide , and in well multiplication , I ’d have been eager to show my registeredMorganmare , Confetti . But I ’d been so down that summertime that I ’d had her bred and turned her out topasture .
It was former August in 1972 , and the 4 - H carnival was in full swing . There was an open horse show scheduled for that evening , and in better times , I ’d have been eager to show my registeredMorganmare , Confetti . But I ’d been so down that summer that I ’d had her breed and turned her out topasture .
Confetti was my sole solacement in those sullen days . I buy her two summers before as an overweight , aged broodmare , barely broke to ride . I schooled her and even show her in westerly pleasure one time . But now she was just my acquaintance . I spent many quiet hours with her , evidence her my troubles . She hear . She understood . She was the only one who seemed to care .
I ’d just finished reading Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’sThe Power of Positive Thinking . Its subject matter is that nothing is impossible , and there ’s always hope if you’re able to think and have faith . I like that idea , but it ’s hard to have faith and believe when your macrocosm is falling aside .
A friend pulled into our drive that eve . He require to know why I did n’t have Confetti over at the show . I explicate that she had n’t been ride all summer , was 5 month pregnant , grossly fleshy , was n’t clean up , and what was the use anyway ?
Bill and I grew up together , and he knew me somewhat well . He thought the show would do me estimable and would n’t swallow my feeble excuses . He helped bathe and clip Confetti , loaded my tack into the dawdler , and before I know it , I was at the fairground .
Confetti was awestruck . She ’d only been evidence once before , at a sane , sensible good afternoon function . Now it was nighttime with promising flood lamp around her . An tremendous Ferris wheel loomed right at ringside seat . Nearby , a gay - go - one shot post laughing , cry children . Carnival vocalise fill the airwave .
Out beyond the park house trailer I find a comparatively quiet bit to turn on and reflect upon a idea that come to me . Maybe , just maybe I could do the impossible if I could believe . I catch one’s breath a little prayer , “ Just lease this gymnastic horse go into the ring and employment as well as she can . She ’ll do her good if you have her know how crucial it is to me . If she does , under these fate , I ’ll know it ’s a sign from you that you ’ll help me overcome my problem . ” I did n’t enquire to win . That would n’t be right . But if Confetti showed her better , it would be enough . It would give me Bob Hope .
We record just one class : open western delight . When we rode into the ring there were 33 entries … and us . The justice was a noted AQHA judge and we were the only non - Quarter Horsetype first appearance !
What a baffling class it was ! The judge clearly like a working horse ! We performed on the rail , delineate up , then the judge called his finalists to the rail . My marrow skip a beat when he pointed at Confetti and me ! We finalists hand gallop , we reversed at a lope , we dropped our stirrups , we did sliding stop , and through it all , Confetti influence her fondness out . It was like ride in a dream : the cacophony of the PA system , the muzzy face of spectators ringside and my niggling maria doing everything with total flawlessness , her short stage pump , long head of hair and tail pilot , roar along at a hand gallop and sliding into a beautiful solid hitch . What a ride ! I patted her enthusiastically as we rode back into the lineup .
I will never draw a blank the feeling that swept over me when the announcer called our number for first place ! At that moment a horse showed me that if I had faith , if I had Leslie Townes Hope , if I could believe , things could be different .
Confetti is go now and I overleap her . She was the special horse cavalry in my life . Her trophy , unlike all of the others that are pack away in dusty corner in the attic , sits proudly on my bookcase . It reminds me of a fat small chestnut mare who learn me the meaning of faith .
Because of the hope Confetti dedicate me that night , I had the courage to pick up the piece of music of my liveliness . Today , I ’m jubilantly married and my life sentence is unspoilt . From a female horse named Confetti , I learned that a horse can be more than “ just a horse . ” A sawbuck can make life worth subsist again .
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