31/07/2025
To the horse who’s lived through every version of me
“You stood by me before I knew who I was.
Before I had the timing, the feel, the understanding. Before I knew how to speak to you in a way that made sense to you, and long before I knew how to listen.
You felt every phase of me.
The eager beginner.
The perfectionist.
The one who tried too hard,
and the one who didn’t try hard enough.
You learned to interpret what I meant when I didn’t say it clearly. You held space for my missteps, and gave me the chance to rewrite the story each time I came back with more clarity, more kindness and more understanding.
You didn’t walk away when I was still learning how to show up.
You didn’t shut down or told me off
when I was still figuring out how to open up and find better ways. You offered grace when I hadn’t earned it.
You met me in the mess.
And you grew with me, anyway.
I softened and listened deeper, because of you. You taught me that softness isn’t a flaw. That a real reciprocal partnership doesn’t come from control, but from trust, built slowly, in the quiet moments when neither of us had anything to prove. And all the other lessons you tucked gently into the spaces between heartbeats, the ones I’m still uncovering, even now.
Some of these lessons didn’t finish teaching when the moment ended, they unfold over time, revealing more each time I return to them with new eyes.
You shaped the best parts of me and I will carry that gift for the rest of my life.
To the horse who walked beside me through every version of who I was, thank you. You didn’t just change my horsemanship skills,
You changed me”
-Julia Williamson, The Horse Center, 2025
