A State of Mind – Carmel Rowley

When you really think about breeding Arabian horses, you realise this labour of love is quite simply a ‘state of mind’. The definition of a state of mind is – ‘a temporary psychological state – cognitive state: the state of a person’s cognitive processes.’ In other words the state of being interested!

Naturally being interested begins harmlessly enough. But there is an allurement about Arabian horses. Something that peaks curiosity. Possibly the love of horses has always been there, so curiosity turns to interest, interest turns to desire and before you know it all you can think about are majestic, imposing, graceful, enchanting Arabian horses.
You search out books, then the internet – you keep an eye on the magazines’ in the Newsagent’s horse section. Then you decide to go to a horse show! In person the horses are even more tantalising than they are in the books and you fall in love. One day you promise yourself, one day you say – I will own an Arabian horse.

The thing is it’s not just the young that become interested. While friends are making sea-changes others decide to buy a farm and make a horse-change! Family comes first but sometimes, the yearning for a horse, may never have quite faded…
At a loss when the kids gone, there’s the question what’s next? Then by mere coincidence, at a local show, an Arabian stallion prances by – and you are mesmerised. You are whisked away to times gone by and all of a sudden there’s a mission. All the spare time, weekends, holidays begin to revolve around searching for the ideal Arabian horse.

An interest, yes, obsession, yes again. A way of life, most definitely. The attachment grows as you become involved with one of the most fascinating breed of horse alive. You create and you work at learning the intricacies of breeding. You laugh, you cry, you despair. You rejoice new life and die a little when the old are gone.

Time moves on and you are entangled in the mystic of the Arabian bred. You give of yourself and in so many ways, this state of mind, this state of being interested, this way of life gives you a new vision of self expectation. In a world where wealth is the absolute gauge of success you learn to question your priorities. The age old objective of breeding horses offers a special gift to all – the gift of the next generation is a small degree of immortality. Your name is forever associated with what you bred…
One day when you sit on the porch and ponder your interesting journey will you be able to say, “I have done my best for the Arabian breed. The horses have enriched my life and they were a true labour of love.”