There was a time when many of my happiest hours were spent on the back of a horse, my horse. Those days are a long-time gone. Not too recently, in hopes of once again riding astride a horse if nothing more than mounted on some stable nag in the neighborhood and riding about a field, I drove to a small “ranch” not too far distant from where I live. At the time, I was some four month’s from my 88th birthday. However, as I stood on the outside of a fenced-in paddock and stroked the neck of a beautiful bay horse, much like a mare I once owned, realization hit. With tears in my eyes, I realized that age has taken its toll. Several bad falls over the past couple of years have left me somewhat cautious. Thankfully, none of them left me with any serious, lasting injury. They did manage to slow me down a bit and left me with enough common sense to stop taking unnecessary risks. I’ll have to put my love of horses in words on paper.
From my book, The Iconoclast.
If I must face an afterlife,
don’t saddle me with harps and wings, or place a crown upon my head,
for golden halos, all such things,
I do bequeath to those who’ll find themselves with saints for company, content to stand before a throne in adoration, singing praise
to God throughout eternity.
Don’t clothe me in a angel’s robe
woven on empyreans’s loom, nor shoe my feet in sandals meant
for Eden’s paths, but give me room to freely roam the universe,
find new worlds and chart my course where I may spend eternity
astride some swift Arabian horse who can’t be bribed with silken tent
or fenced-in pastures, clover-grown. Give me a steed who scorns the bit,
who’s hot of blood and freedom-prone.
Let me and some Arabian mare be as water, earth and air
two rebel spirits spurning fences, wall and heavenly eminencies.
I have no wish for Paradise if horses are forbidden there
and golden New Jerusalem is a city-thoroughfare.
Though I’m now bound and restrained by Nature’s law of gravity,
my soul, at times, takes wings to soar
and heaven means a horse, to me!
what a beautiful longing… eternal freedom on the back of a swift steed… even the sound of it,,, is heaven…..
Paisley, I think I was born with a love for horses. I was raised in a small town, Uhrichsville, Ohio. at a time when huge, double blocks of ice were delivered to the door in a horse-drawn, tarp-covered wagon to be cut into small blocks. However huge the horse appeared to be, I felt no fear as I fed him handfulls of grass while the the driver carried, what was probably fifty pounds of ice into the house to be put in the top of an ice box. Now that’s a memory I’ll bet few have today.
“but give me room to freely roam the universe,
find new worlds and chart my course where I may spend eternity”
I enjoyed this and look forward to it. I had a preacher once who taught since the celestial city’s (New Jerusalem) doors were never closed that we could travel to other worlds. I don’t really have a scripture to back that up, but the rest of the universe was created for something.
I imagine canoeing down strange rivers, maybe with an angel and seeing what is around the next bend in the river and seeing what has God wrought.
What a beautiful verse. The true meaning of Heaven to me is spending eternity doing what you love and with those we hold most dear, be it friends and family, or beloved pets and animals we’ve had the pleasure of spending our lives with.
Absolutely there are animals in Heaven-including horses. See Revelation 19:14 in the Bible. By the way, Heaven is not a boring place where you just float around on clouds strumming harps!:) Those who make it there will have powers equal to angels but have greater priveleges then they, as the sons and daughters of God. (check the Bible for details)
Danielle,
One of my dearest wishes when young and the occasional owner of my own riding horse, I longed to go on a long sightseeing trek with a group of other lovers of horses. Oh course, it never happened: hence the poem. Since heaven is left to the imagination of the believer to make of it what he/she wishes, spending it on the back of a beautiful Arabian mare is a perfect way to spend it. . . for me. I would not have brought this up, but you suggested I check the Bible and especially Revelations as proof there will be animals in heaven. I’m wondering just how you interpret Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, verses 18 through 22?
Mary,
I am also a lover of horses.. as long as I can remember..(I just turned 50) On a sad note though, I very recently went through the heartbreaking experience of losing one of my dear companions, a beautiful red roan mare. She died on Wednesday, and we buried her in our big meadow on Thursday. I just want to say that because of my faith, I know in my heart that she is running through heaven’s pastures now, and free from sickness, and will be there waiting when I get there also. Jesus promised that he is preparing a place for me, and I know it will have all that is precious to me. I am thankful that the Lord is my best friend.. He has helped me and comforted me through my whole life…at times which were quite hard. I wish that comfort for all of my friends, and being a horse lover, I would love to call you my “friend” Mary. I wish you much happiness, and success with your writing!
Teri, I know the heartache you are experiencing, because I’ve “been there—done that”. I try not to think of it, but several months ago, wanting to sit on the back of a horse and riding, if nothing more than around a pasture, I visited a small horse ranch not too far from my home. It was not until I stood outside the fence that enclosed five or six riding horses did I realize, for the first time, that age, plus several bad falls over the past couple of years had, after all, turned me into the 88 year old woman I am. I sat down nearby, fought back the tears welling up in my eyes, then arose and drove home. There comes a time when one must move on, so, I’ve moved on. I wish you many many years of joyful companionship with your beloved horses. Share with me some special memory if you will by email. Your friend, Mary
lsz0K2 comment5 ,
Utegpawk, I want you to know that ‘ve approved your comment and eager to read it. Hopefully, it will appear soon.
I too grew up on a horse(es), and since we owned a cattle ranch, we broke our own ‘cow-ponies’. My sweetheart was Sox, a stout black and white pinto who lived to be a little over 30 years of age. Every experience imaginable on a horse, we lived through it. A few years back, I was nearly killed by a hit and run driver, and have had several ‘near death experiences’ since then, at least four of them seeing Sox in Heaven..He looked at his prime, maybe 4 or 5 years old and full of spit and vinegar. He was just beautiful. I also got to see a little blue roan -pinto colt I’d totally forgotten about until I saw her in a NDE as well. If someone tells you there are no horses in Heaven, don’t believe them! The Lord will give us the desires of our hearts, and as long as we’re right with Him, we can ask what we will and it will be given to us….my prayer has always been that I’ll have my animals with me again–and now I know I will.
(By the way, the Lord is going to be returning on a white horse:-)!
Sharon, Though I believe that I have but one life to live, love and be happy, I understand how you feel. It’s a lovely way of thinking and believing, but I’m a realist. I, too, have had what could be termed “close to death” experiences. Once, I woke up to find myself vomiting blood and bleeding badly from my rectum. By the time I reached the hospital my body was so drained of blood that, in spite of my being B-negative, the doctors, not having my type, ordered an A-positive blood transfusion. They could have finished the job. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful experience! I was drifting off into a lovely fog of nothingness. And, that is exactly what death is. I know it because I experienced it.
Thank you for your gift of this beautiful forum where these issues can be discussed, Mary. I know about the peaceful ‘drifting off’ into death that you experienced. That also happened to me in the ER just after being brought in, and my blood pressure bottomed out. I was aware of some fast foot work, and my body being put into a trendelenberg position, but I had already began to drift off into that beautiful, peaceful, ‘nothingness’ before they brought me back. My NDE’s took place during recovery in the months that followed from the damage done during the hit and run incident. I sometimes wonder if those of us who need a bit of additional encouragement are able to see past the ‘vail’ for brief glimpses. I think, in my situation, I would have felt very helpless–and hopeless–without those events.
Again, thank you for this web site.
So I hear some people say that you’ll see your pets and other animals you have shared your life with on earth, in heaven. If that’s true, though, what about people who love animals but can’t have any? Like, what if you love dogs (or cats), but live in an apartment and aren’t allowed pets?
Or like my situation: I have always wanted a horse, for as long as I could remember. But I have never been in a position to have one. Worse yet, I no longer am even able to be involved with horses much anymore (like riding, etc.) in the area I now live in. So are we animal-loving but animal-less people doomed an eternity in heaven void of the animals we long to be involved with? (That is, if we make it there in the first place.)
Anyone care to share their heavenly horses?
I just found this site and wished I had earlier. What a beautiful poem and thought. Riding in Heaven on a beautiful horse created for God’s home.
I too have had horses, many, of them years ago. Now age and old injuries keep me grounded.
I am sure, based on what the Bible says, specifically in Revelation 19:11 that there are horses in Heaven. There are a number of other scriptures with references to horses related to Heaven.
For those of us who love animals and horses in particular it seems reasonable that the Lord would have animals in Heaven, for His and our enjoyment. After all Heaven and all God’s blessings are beyond our wildest dreams and imagination. (I Corinthians 2:9)
Thank you Ms. Kaufman for putting into words what many of our heart feel.