Since I was a little girl I have always loved animals. I used to go horse back riding for seven years. All the long hours in the stable just to brush my favourite horses. One of my favourite shops by then was to buy riding clothes in is the riding department at Harrods in London. I bought for instance some of my trousers and jumpers there. Very good quality and they don’t cost more than in the ordinary shops which sell riding equipment. 😀 Just a shopping tips for you who are interested and are in need of good quality riding equipment. 😀
The first horse I rode was named Lilla Grå (Little Grey).
She was an angry little pony, but very good at dressage, but my first love was a brown pony called Tarquin.
He was a stubborn, angry little man, but I loved him a lot.
The horse who stole my heart was Stay Cool.
Not so many people liked him in the stable, due to that they found him ugly and difficult to ride, but I loved him and cried my eyes out when they sold him. 😦 I still remember him… I used to talk to him and feel his warm breath. Stay Cool was a sweet heart.
Another important horse is Quick Step. She had been abused 😦 by an evil man so she wasn’t the nicest horse, but I always felt safe when I jumped with her, because she was a natural jumper. However, it was a bit embarrassing, because she loved to compete and was very strong so when we galloped in full speed with the riding teacher. She used to take the first place. Haha. A winner I must say but the riding teacher wasn’t the happiest! 😀
My first animal was a hamster named Kotten (The Cone). She just ate and ate…it was nothing more she could do, if we don’t count in when she was running around in her hamster wheel all night long. ZzzZzzzZzz… not so much sleep there. 😀
I used to care of my mum’s friend’s labrador Sluggo. I must say that a nicer dog than him is hard to find. May him rest in peace! Sluggo was very nice and friendly to everyone; human beings, animals (especially to rabbits). He never did any harm. Although if Sluggo was a bit stubborn. He loved the snow. He was not a circus dog, but he stole people’s hearts with his warm heart!
Other important animals to mention are the rabbit Lång-Öra (Long-Ear), the guinea pig Memphis and finally the birds Elvis , Pavarotti and Sinatra.Yes, it has looked like a small zoo in my house, but like you can tell I do love animals!
My absolutely biggest love was a rabbit named Chicksan! I spoiled him a lot and he loved Swedish crisp bread and my cinnamon buns (no I didn’t give him a whole cinnamon bun, haha). Chicksan was caring in his own way and used to listen to everything I said (poor him… haha). After he died, I decided to not buy any more rabbits, because nobody could replace him. Chicksan was the most wonderful creature I ever have met.
Animals can’t speak Swedish, English, French, German and so on to converse with us human beings. What do they do to us to make us feel happy so it will affect our health in a positive way? They are always honest. If they like something, they do show it and vice versa. Animals don’t use lies to make us feel better or to protect themselves. They are just the lovely individuals which they have been born to be. A lot of kids love them, adults likewise and many old people have them in their hearts.
Animals can also make us feel more relaxed and loved (as long as we treat them in a good way). This is especially positive due to the stressful society we are living in. Who doesn’t want to feel loved? I reckon that even people which we would categorise as evil and less good-hearted human beings want to feel some sort of love deep down in their hearts, even if we can find it hard to understand it with our consciousness.
Dogs are used in therapy to make for instance old people’s lives happier and more meaningful. Just to feel the warm, hairy head on your lap when you for instance can’t move or have some sort of cognitive impairment or feel isolated from the rest of the world, can increase your well-being and health in a positive way. Surveys about dog therapy and dementia have been made in countries such as Japan and they all pointing at the same results; animals are good for individuals with a cognitive impairment of some sort.
Even horses have got a good impact on kids and adults with physical or mental impairments. In Sweden and in the UK they have special riding groups for kids with different kinds of impairments. Personally, I think it’s a lovely thing to do. The children learn more or less to take responsibility, attend in group arrangements, do something which they perhaps never would have been capable to do without support. It can perhaps increase their well-being and empower them to become more confident.
However, some individuals find it difficult to attend in big groups, but I don’t see it as an obstacle. Instead I see it from a different perspective. Isn’t it more important to see the happiness and love an animal can give that person in question than demand him/her to attend in a big group with strangers? To see a little kid with autism brushing a horse, smiling because he/she is happy to do that. The child with autism, riding the horse, and feel proud of what he/she could accomplish… Animals can really bring out great things from us which we didn’t know existed… How beautiful and fantastic isn’t that?!… 😀
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Sugar and Spice Baking 