...my treasures do not sparkle they clink,
they shine in the sun and neigh in the night...

 

 

SERENA, Italy – 31 agosto 2014

I started out with the intention of doing good, of giving a little of my time to those in need. I started out ready to give all I knew, the work I could do, and all the love that I have for these splendid animals.
And yet when I arrived, I immediately understood that it wasn’t going to be exactly like this. I found myself immersed in that little paradise in the hills, where everything is different. I instinctively, from that first day, called it “home”, and was filled with peace and happiness. I worked so hard, I walked so much, and I managed to stick to routines I would never have thought possible to maintain. But in spite of all this, the one thing I was aware of, deep inside from the moment I set foot there, was that I had been mistaken from the very outset to believe that I was going to give. More than giving I received. I received sweet happy eyes, curiosity, respect and diffidence, whickers of welcome and whinnies of warning, affection and rudeness. But most of all I received their essence as horses, their wellbeing, their love of life. This is why I thank them, and together with them I thank all those amazing people who make this life possible for them, through their hard work. A special thank you goes to those who welcomed me and enabled me to enter into this magic world day after day, but most of all I thank those who enabled me to receive all those things I had wanted to give.