Brody

I have wanted a pony my whole life. I have been praying asking God for direction in what was next in our lives. I have been training to get certified in Equine Craniosacral therapy after being trained in Human CST. With Victoria's medical condition preventing her from competing in figure skating let along just skate, we have been thinking where things in her life, our life be redirected. She has been wanting to do more with animals for the past couple years but hasn't been able to due to the number of hours and focus that went into figure skating. So I guess God's plan for us involved a Welsh Pony we named Brody. 

I periodically check KSL for horses and ponies for sale and found these welsh ponies up for adoption. They were reasonably priced and the money I had set aside for Victoria's skating coach in my venmo account would cover the cost. That was the first sign. I called the breeder who was down by Kanab, 4 hours away. I started talking with this lady named Julie and we immediately hit it off. I told her all about Victoria's head injury that revealed the Chiari Malformation and then was diagnosed with Dysautonomia. And how she has about 15 minutes at a time when she can push herself to be active before having to retreat to the couch to rest for the next couple hours. We both agreed how healing horses can be to people and that any time spent with the pony would be calming and rewarding.

She then mentioned that she brands all of her ponies. I was thinking, Oh...I wonder what letter.... then she said it was a dragonfly.

Dragonflies have significance in my life. In Arizona, we rarely saw dragonflies or ladybugs. When we lost our baby Sarah, in a moment of grief, a dragonfly landed nearby and at that moment I felt like it was God telling me that she is okay....and that I am going to be okay. So everytime I say a dragonfly, I felt like it was God saying that we were going to be okay. Fast forward to the house we live in. Who knew that after losing everything in Arizona that we would even qualify to buy our 113 year old house on 1 and 1/3 acres of land, with running water at our back gate. I knew that God confirmed that we were to be living where we live when during the entire month of August, swarms of dragonflies circle our yard like little bomber planes eating the tiny bugs flying. When Julie told me that her brand was a dragonfly, I got totally choked up. I knew at that moment that this pony was meant for us and that God was saying that we were all going to be okay. And that Victoria will heal and she will again be able to be physically active again....just not right now. Julie told me that she had lost her son 5 years ago in an accident and he just loved all the horses and ponies so she made her brand a dragonfly to remember him by. It was amazing the connection we found in just talking over the phone.

Brody had just gotten a bath so he was feeling frisky. I love the look on Jacks' face as Brody comes barreling around. He actually slipped and fell onto his side but bounced back up and acted like nothing happened.

He has been a lot of fun. He starts running around and then Beau next door starts running around and then the goats start running around, there's whinning going back and forth...it's like their own little rodeo going on.

He is a perfect addition to our family.

Some might think we are crazy but we already are teaching him tricks. Eventually, I would love to do pet therapy with him and take him to retirement homes. He is almost full grown at 11 hands. 

A perfect little pony!