Ranch Princess: How My Horse Helped Me Through Cancer
Even when I didn’t feel like riding, brushing and grooming her kept my spirits up and provided a social outlet that wasn’t medically oriented.
With cancer-killing drugs
Coursing through my veins,
There was a wonderful mare
Waiting for me.
Through the ice and snow
I drove
To see this Zippo-bred mare
As beautiful as a horse can be.
A sorrel as shiny as a copper penny
A deep brown eye, kind and gentle
Listened to me talk for months and months
While my body betrayed me.
When I give her the cues,
She does what she should.
This is the only horse for me.
I’ll ride her for all that I’m worth.
We’ll seek buckles in Wisconsin, Tulsa and all around the Midwest.
I bought this horse two weeks after my first chemo treatment in January of 2020. I had severe neuropathy in my feet that started three days a after my first treatment. I had pain so severe that it was difficult to walk without screaming out in pain.
This mare was a near constant companion as the nation shut down for the pandemic.My oncologist considered the boarding stable to be a relatively safe place as it was not a sealed, inside building and horses are large animals and naturally, social distancing. Even when I didn’t feel like riding, brushing and grooming her kept my spirits up and provided a social outlet that wasn’t medically oriented.
Barbie, Rising to the Beat, has won numerous high-point buckles at local and national shows. She has a world champion and a reserve world champion at the 2022 National Open Horse Show Association World Championship Show as well as a top five and three top ten at the 2023 Pinto World Championship Show in Tulsa.
This poem was written and submitted by Marion Taicsich. The article reflects the views Taicsich and not of CURE®. This is also not supposed to be intended as medical advice.
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