The story
Recovery
“Hold him! Hold him! He’s going to fall!”
It’s 3 a.m. The surgeon has gone home. An assistant is cleaning the operating room. And I stand alone in the recovery box, holding a horse waking from anesthesia. Trembling. High on ketamine.
I wanted to run, but I had to fight. So I held the horse. Alone. Exhausted. Drained. Afraid. But strong, responsible and brave. Screaming to myself to hold him.
Years after I left my veterinary career, I still had nightmares about holding horses in the recovery box. Horses falling on me, crushing me. I’d shove Robbert in my sleep and scream “Watch out!” He’d wake me and say: “You’re safe.”
This painting is for everyone who sometimes feels unsafe and finds themselves in clumsy, dangerous situations around horses, but carries on anyway. This painting is for the brave ones, the ones recovering.
May this painting remind you to be soft and kind with yourself too.
