With the horses being a 35 to 40 minute drive from home, I find myself in the car with a lot of thinking time. Often the time in the car is an opportunity to think about the tasks that need to be done or analysing what was done and what could be done better. Recently however, as I made the drive along the Western Freeway, I found myself reflecting on the horses themselves. I found myself thinking about their individual stories and the different journeys they have undertaken. One story in particular, that of Flynn, struck a chord with me.

Flynn is a Standardbred – a horse bred to race in harness. Every year, thousands of Standardbreds compete in races all round Australia. And every year, thousands of Standardbreds, that are either too slow to race or have finished racing, are left with an uncertain future. Unlike their more glamorous cousins, the Thoroughbred, “Standies” are seen as being unattractive, plain and poor riding horses. The result, is that a large number of these wonderful horses end up being slaughtered for dog food…

And that could have so easily been Flynn’s destiny. Too slow to race, he was, when we first saw him, an unattractive, small underweight horse. He was covered in bites, cuts and scratches and there was nothing about him that made him look special. For whatever reason, we decided to buy him and to give him the two things that most others weren’t prepared to give him – time and the belief that within that little horse, there lay something of value. And over time, the little horse did change. Over time, the little horse put on weight and transformed into a handsome, glossy coated, intelligent and gregarious individual. Over time the little horse, once considered too slow and of no use, became a horse that made people smile…

And over time, I have come to realise that Flynn’s story is also our story. Many of us have been in positions where we were discarded, disregarded or dismissed. We too, like Flynn, needed nothing more than someone believing in us and for someone to give us time – time to change, time to grow, time to heal, time to become who we were created to be. We too, needed someone to look past our failures and our mistakes and to see the potential that lay inside of us. For the truth is, regardless of how we view ourselves, regardless of how we feel we compare to others, regardless of the mistakes we’ve made, every single one of has something of value, something of beauty that can be shared with others.

Flynn, soon after we purchased him, March 2013

Flynn, January 2015

In a world that is infatuated with instant success – a world that worships the external but ignores the internal, it is a story that needs repeating. Just as we have received time and belief, so we need to share that with others. May Flynn’s story continue to both remind us and inspire us, that what we see is only part of what truly resides in the soul that stand before us…

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises up upon you. (Isaiah 60:1)