🐴 Raina — The Mare Who Chose Me

✨ A Connection Beyond Words

Some horses come into your life quietly.
Raina didn’t.

The moment I saw her, something inside me shifted —
not a thought, not a question,
but a deep, immediate knowing.

It felt like love at first sight.
The kind that doesn’t rush,
doesn’t shout,
just settles in your chest with a soft certainty:

“There you are.”
“I’ve been waiting for you.”

Raina didn’t just come to me.
She chose me too.

🌿 Her Past

Raina began her life with promise.
She came from a well-known breeder
and spent her first four years living as a real herd horse —
free, social, grounded,
with room to grow into her young body.

Then she was sold,
travelled to the opposite side of Spain,
and spent nine months in a place we know nothing about.
No history.
No details.
No answers.

After her owner passed away,
Raina was taken to a riding facility / horse trading yard.

And this is where life became too fast,
too demanding,
too overwhelming.

She was expected to be “in training” immediately —
to accept saddle, rider, pressure, routine —
with little patience
and no softness.

For a sensitive young mare like her,
it was too much, too soon.

She didn’t fight.
She didn’t resist.
She simply shut down —
emotionally disappearing to cope.

🌑 Her Health Before Arriving

Before she came to us,
Raina had struggled through strangles (droes) —
a painful abscess under her jaw, fever, and clear exhaustion.

By the time she arrived here,
the infection was improving,
but the aftermath was written on her body:

  • very thin

  • weakened

  • stressed

  • depleted

Not acutely ill anymore,
but clearly recovering from something hard.

What she needed now
was space, calm, and someone who listened to her body
instead of pushing against it.

🌸 Arriving Home

When Raina stepped off the trailer,
she was fragile but stable —
a young mare who had survived the worst
but still carried the weight of it.

She watched everything with careful eyes.
Not scared —
just tired, observant, and unsure what life expected of her now.

And then slowly, quietly,
she began to heal.

Her weight returned.
Her eyes brightened.
Her muscles softened.
Her breath deepened.
Her spirit unfolded again —
not all at once,
but one gentle moment at a time.

It wasn’t dramatic.
It was tender, subtle,
the kind of healing that happens
when a horse finally feels safe.

💛 Who She Is Now

Raina is a deeply intuitive mare —
sensitive, thoughtful, perceptive.

She observes before she reacts.
She listens before she trusts.
She mirrors the energy she is given.

And once she trusts someone…
it is wholehearted, steady, and sincere.

In the herd:

  • Pikachu greets her with joy

  • Gitana offers quiet acceptance

  • Duna provides gentle companionship

With humans,
she responds with softness to softness,
patience to patience,
connection to presence.

She is young,
but wise.
Soft,
but strong.
Quiet,
but full of depth.

🌈 Her Life Today

Raina finally has what she always needed:

✔ safety
✔ freedom
✔ calm routine
✔ herd companionship
✔ gentle training without pressure
✔ space to grow
✔ time to heal
✔ someone who understands her

She is blossoming —
fully, beautifully, naturally.

Her spirit is returning,
her curiosity awakening,
her heart opening again.

She is only six,
with her whole life ahead of her —
and for the first time,
she gets to live it with dignity and choice.

✨ A Bond That Feels Meant to Be

Raina is not here by accident.
Something in her called to something in me,
and neither of us could ignore it.

She is seen.
She is safe.
She is healing.
She is home.