Tag: horse

Posted in Family, fear, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, loving others, prayer, Scripture, thankful, Trials

A Rose is Still a Rose

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” Romans 8:28

What are the chances? What are the chances that a piece of broken tack (part of a horse or mule’s saddle) would dangle in just the wrong place and cause her to think a bee was trying to sting her? What are the chances that during the chaos the saddle would come loose causing the rider to fall off—hard—hurt but not dead—hurt but not too broken? And what are the chances that all of this would happen, oh, let’s say an hour and a half from their vehicle? And finally, what are the chances that this same rider would later fall off again—not from a mule but from a horse? Well, the odds may be slim but that is exactly what happened.

After Daisy, the mule, got goosed (see Grits from July 30, 24), we decided it might be best for me to walk awhile to maybe help clear my head. So, we both walked, as my friend led Daisy and a horse named Rose, for about 45 minutes. When we reached a place where we could tie up Daisy and Rose and let us take a rest—we did.  By this time, I was pretty much shot, and my arm was—like me—pretty much useless. After a few more minutes, we decided that I would ride Rose, the horse, and my friend would ride Daisy, the mule. With a little help from a log, I was able to get on Rose and soon we were plodding along. Keep in mind, we were still over an hour from our truck.

Well, we prodded and plodded until finally we came to the truck and trailer.  I like trucks but that day I was so glad to see this one I could have hugged and kissed it. Now just one more thing remained—to get off the horse. There was a large piece of concrete that I had used to get on Daisy at the start of the ride, so it just made sense to use it to get off Rose.  It was a plan. It sounded simple enough…until we tried to do it. Here we go and here is where lightning struck twice.

We came up to the concrete and discovered that my injured arm and shoulder just wouldn’t work. So, I tried to get off the horse, but with one arm there was no way I could get my right leg over Rose. My friend offered to help, and I gratefully said yes. So, my left foot was on the concrete, my right leg was halfway off the horse and just about that time—Rose decided to take a couple of steps back.  Suddenly, my left leg was in midair, and my right leg was just over the top of Rose, and you can probably guess what happened.  Yep…with nothing but air to stand on I promptly and painfully fell off the horse and once again onto the very hard ground. We both couldn’t believe it but trust me, most of all my body couldn’t believe it. It found new places to hurt…places I didn’t even know I had.

Well, I went to the truck and let my friend load the animals. I knew he felt bad but none of it was his fault. I knew I felt bad because my body was telling me so. I don’t know about Daisy or Rose but both are good animals, so they probably felt bad too. But I’ve asked myself this question. If I could have changed something would I do it? Honesty, part of me says yes and part of me says no.  I love the brother that I was with—he is one of the best men I know. I wanted to spend time with him.  He is an “iron sharpens iron” kind of guy and he is good for me. I saw that in how he handled my falling off mules and horses thing. To see how he responded to this adversity strengthened me.

And then there is the yet to be written part of this story.  How is God going to cause good from all of this? What lessons am I going to learn that maybe couldn’t have been learned any other way? And of course, there is the fact this is a great story to tell—a guy falling off a mule and a horse all on the same day and the same trip—and living to tell about it.  I can just here it now when my grandkids ask, “Papa, tell us about the day” and I do and I get to end the story with this one great truth…He’s got this.  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, fear, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, prayer, Scripture, sovereignty of God, Trials

When Daisy was Goosed

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” Romans 8:28

Nobody saw it coming.  I have a friend who used to attend the church that I used to pastor. He moved and I retired, but we still manage to see each other when he visits town.  The thing about my friend is that he is extremely “goosy.”  Let me explain. When we want to have some fun, we would sneak up behind David and just touch him. Then you better watch out and “Katie Bar the Door.” He would jump in the air and come down with arms flailing. That’s why when you were going to “get him” you had to make sure the area was clear. It was and is just too fun to watch him in full blown “goose” mode.”

Well, the other day I had another opportunity to experience “goose mode” but it was not with David or any other human but a six-year-old mule.  Her name is Daisy Mae and we met when a good friend of mine invited me to go on a trail ride with him. He had his horse and I had Daisy. Now don’t get mules confused with donkeys.  Mules are a cross breed between a horse and a donkey and are about the size of their momma, the horse. While it takes more than a few years to train them they are worth the wait. Daisy was worth the wait—but I didn’t know she had some David in her. Let me explain.

There is a thing that goes under the tail of a horse or mule that keeps the saddle from riding forward toward the neck. I think it is called a tail Cooper and it is an important part of the saddle and tack. Well, somewhere along the way, way out in the wilderness, that part broke and came loose.  Apparently, it was dangling down near Daisy’s bottom, and she apparently thought it was a bee or something. Anyway, we stopped just for a moment, and it was in that moment that Daisy had her “goose” moment.  She got all fired up and decided that the “bee” had to go. She turned hard around to the left and started to go in a circle. My friend grabbed the rein, but it was too late. The saddle slid to the right, and I was promptly ejected from Daisy and to the ground. I fell hard, too hard for this seventy-year-old body.

When I came to my senses, I was just stunned. I had fallen on my right side and soon it became apparent that my right shoulder had taken the brunt of the force. It was a few minutes before I could stand, and it was a few more minutes when we decided I needed to walk awhile. Well, the more time passed, the sorer my arm and shoulder became. We were about an hour and half from the truck and trailer…one of the longest hour and a half of my life. We did make it but for now that is where the story will end.  Is there more? Oh yes, there is more but you will have to wait a couple of days for the rest.

One of the big truths about Daisy getting goosed is the fact that nobody was at fault—not Daisy, not my friend and not me. The truth is sometimes things happen.  We live in an imperfect world, but we have a perfect God who is always working on our behalf.  We literally were in a wilderness area and that fall could have been a whole lot worse and if it had been—well, there was no easy way out. But God was watching, and God protected me from that, but that’s not all. I don’t have the whole picture yet, but I do have the whole promise from Romans 8:28. There we read, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”

What a great promise and don’t miss this.  God causes…not everything, for so much of what we endure is part of this imperfect world. What He causes is good to come from the difficult. I know there are plenty of lessons I am going to learn from all of this but one I know for sure is this.  No matter what, no matter how hard the fall, no matter how long the recovery, no matter the matter—He’s got this. Be sure and watch out for part two! Bro. Dewayne