I am mad, are you?

Our dreams sometimes border on what others consider madness. When embraced they become doors that lead to pathways that define who we become. And too often, lessons learned on that journey are not comprehended until we look back and feel the magic of these moments. Only when we fail to learn are they lost.

Hello, my name is Suzanne, and I invite you to stop for a moment and join me on a very private journey through time……

Picture a little girl huddling in the safety of her favorite blanket. She grips her favorite toy, her best friend, her only friend. A teddy bear perhaps, or a rag doll? But look closer. What she holds is actually a tiny leather horse. The little girl and the horse are inseparable.

Years come and go, and over time the horse becomes a fixture on a closet shelf. The little girl is now a busy teenager, distracted by school and work and friends, and finally an emerging awareness of boys. Her dreams now are of a life after school, of who she will become, of adventures and then a home filled with joy. Though the toy horse is now but a fond memory, she dreams of owning a real horse someday; a beautiful dark stallion that she saves and befriends, who repays her in kind with companionship and strength. She dreams vividly of adventures, she can feel the power of the animal beneath her, hear its hooves, she can see the morning mist filtering through the trees as they ride. She decides she will become an equine veterinarian so the dream will fill all her days as she grows older.

These dreams are so vivid that she shares them with her friends. But rather than embrace them with her, they taunt her instead. You are mad, they said. Have you ridden your dream horse? they asked mockingly. And so, the dream grew less vivid, and like the toy leather horse on her shelf, the dream gave way to the realities of a world impatient with dreamers.

She grows up, she marries, and she takes a job. Not an equine vet, but a normal paycheck that her friends cannot mock. But soon the heart of a dreamer grows bored. Seeds of discontent bloom within her heart, a feeling that something has passed her by - that promises she’d made to herself had been passed over in favor of… nothing at all.

And then, perhaps in response to her realization, perhaps by chance, an opportunity came. It was a horse named Lucky, a horse no one wanted. Lucky was destined for the knackery, just days from becoming pet food and glue. The woman was told that Lucky was unsafe, not a rider’s horse, and yet she saw something they did not. It was in Lucky’s eyes - gentleness, and a flicker of hope. The woman rescued the horse named Lucky, even though the dealers told her she was mad. Mad… a word – a concept – that would change her life.

Lucky never let the woman down, repaying her with trust and friendship through some tough years. But the woman was only human and the years were challenging - over time the pressures mounted. Looking back she realized that Lucky had been sending her messages that she hadn’t seen.

One day after a long ride Lucky seemed sluggish. She’d resisted her saddle that morning, something that had never happened, and didn’t seem to want to leave the stable. And though the ride was brisk and strong, as it always was, she refused her food afterward - also quite odd. But the woman barely noticed, already thinking ahead to the rest of her day. As the woman departed Lucky’s side, something made her stop and look back at her friend. The horse turned and looked deeply, tellingly, into her mistress’s eyes.

Lucky died a few days later.
The vet said it was a twisted bowel, and of course the woman blamed herself for not noticing that something was wrong. For years the eyes of that horse looked into her soul every night as she tried to sleep, and greeted her every morning. But soon the memories turned to many long rides over forest trails, and she realized she had given Lucky at least a few good years, precious time that others would have denied her. And then something happened to the woman.

Lucky had touched her soul, and in doing so caused her to look at her own life and see the world more clearly than ever before.

So the woman quit her job and started her own business, leveraging the power of her dreams to drive it to a success that exceeded even her own expectations.

Lucky had given me a gift, not only of friendship, but a much-needed wake-up call.

Those wise, equine eyes still haunt me, but now I see warmth in them, not so much a goodbye as a wish for good fortune. Anything less would denigrate the meaning of that moment. And so I worked to make it happen. And I finally understood the real meaning of being mad. M.A.D. – it meant “Make A Difference”. That was the gift Lucky had bestowed on me that day. I knew I had to make a difference. And that I absolutely could.

Certainly my business allows me the opportunity to make an attractive income. But money for money’s sake isn’t enough. My dream now is to establish a charity in Lucky’s honor to support horse rescue organizations, worldwide. My business and my dream will attract like-minded folks seeking a better life, not only through the opportunity to create a significant income, but also to help them understand how they, too, can go mad – that all of us can and should work hard to make a difference in the lives of those we love, and in the world around us.

Who knows, your teacher might be with you even now. Be in the moment, open your eyes and learn… and then go mad by joining me in my quest to end the abuse and suffering that is metered out to our equine companions.

I am setting up an organization to link, support and eventually fund horse rescue efforts worldwide but I cannot do it alone. I need your help now.

This is urgent, this is important; this has to happen……
and no matter how many people tell me I am "MAD" I will make it happen!