Together we are strong

Together we are strong

For years I have been on a path of finding my way to be the best human, guardian and trainer I can be for my horses. I see myself as a forever student, someone with an open mind and I love looking at things differently, out of the box, unconventionally and with a fresh pair of eyes. I read, study and listen and from there I take things on board that resonate.

Being a horse guardian offers you a valuable connection to another creature and all the positive feelings, emotions and actions that come with that. It will equally bring you an unlimited stream of insights, learnings and challenges. That is the law of polarity at work: everything in the Universe has an equal or an exact opposite. The polarities define the playing field of dreams, ideas, thoughts and actions.


'Don't avoid extremes, and don't choose any one extreme. Remain available to both the polarities - that is the art, the secret of balancing'. - Rajneesh


There will be roadblocks on your horse path, you will experience wonderful highs and difficult lows. Your stability and reliability will be tested as well as your resilience, determination and flexibility. A life with horses will make you grow, whether you are ready for it or not.

This week I got the news that Ra’ad my 20-year-old gelding has Lyme disease. Ra’ad has been my heart-horse for many years. We know each other well and in the past months, he seemed a bit down, not his usual self with less ‘joie de vivre’. He had a reduced appetite and he was losing weight and muscle. Not being able to put a finger on what was causing the drop in weight or the mood change, I decided to ask the vet to run comprehensive blood tests.

Lyme disease in the late disseminated stage (which is the stage that Ra’ad’s Lyme is in, meaning it is slumbering in the body and has been present for months or years) is best viewed as an autoimmune disease. The body’s immune system is no longer doing what is best to thrive and the body starts to attack its own healthy tissue. Ra’ad probably has had the Borrelia bacteria in his body for some time already but he managed to live well with it. However, something triggered a lapse in his immune system and allowed the bacteria to get the better of him.


“Everyone and every being who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and the kingdom of the sick,” Susan Sontag wrote in Illness as Metaphor. “Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.”- Suleika Jaouad

My life and the life of my four-legged family (Sloughi hounds and Arabian horses) took a difficult turn at the beginning of 2024. We all left our home, moved country and were at the start of a new chapter in our lives. For the first time in 10 years, my horses were boarded away from me as I no longer had facilities at home for them. This was a big change for all of us and I now believe that this was the onset of the stress that triggered the Lyme disease in Ra’ad’s body.

I felt guilty, I was the one who had created this situation. Only to realise soon after that this feeling was not helpful nor was it justified. I had to see and accept that this is the situation. What happened, happened and couldn’t have happened in any other way… because it didn’t. I had to trust that I did the best I could with the knowledge that I had. It is important not to hold yourself accountable for the things you did not know.

For me to fully understand what the diagnosis of Lyme disease meant and to find a path that we could follow to help Ra’ad get back to the quality of life that he needs and deserves, I had to keep my head cool and gather information. I dove into the world of Lyme disease; spoke to different people who have experience caring for a horse with Lyme disease and I consulted an excellent holistic vet in the Netherlands.

We have to accept the polarities of life and know that everything has an opposite. Joy and sorrow are both beautiful, you cannot have one without the existence of the other. You cannot have change without a place or point from which to change. So I am embracing this journey by staying practical and positive and by trusting Life.

For Ra’ad and his Lyme, we will start a natural and non-chemical protocol and I have put my faith and trust in the fact that he is a strong and powerful being and that my positive outlook on life and the carefully put-together treatment plan will make a difference. I feel supported by the people who didn’t know me and whom I had not met or spoken with before. They make me feel that we are on a team and together we can make things happen.