by Gimme a Dream

Created on: December 10, 2008

Migraines....
Chronic migraines to be exact. I was 42 years and 22 days old when I got my first migraine. I had never had even a headache before that day. I remember thinking about Lizzy and the head aches she got before she died and I thought as I laid in bed, "My God, I must have a brain tumor, like Lizzy!"

Lizzy (Elizabeth) and I were born the same date, less then an hour apart. When Lizzy turned 17 years, she was having severe headaches. She was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor and underwent surgery and treatment that must have included radiation and Chemotherapy, because she lost her hair. Her beautiful blond locks - gone. That is a small price to pay for a cure, except she wasn't cured. On hour twenty-fourth birthday, Lizzy fell to the disease and was buried a few days later.

Twenty-nine days before my first migraine, on January 29th, 1994, I send my favorite and only horse, Copper, to PEI, to spend one season teaching youngsters to ride at Giddy Up Pony Camp. I spent the winter without a horse. No big deal or so I thought.

In the year 2002, I sent Copper to PEI to the Giddy Up Pony Camp, once again, to teach youngsters how to ride. At 22 years, he was getting older and I was afraid the veterinarian bills would break me. He was healthy but getting up there in years. The migraines got worse and I was under doctors care almost on a weekly basis. I was taking every migraine medication available and a few that weren't. The migraine would last 72 hours or longer, but I was diagnosed with six different types of migraines and one would trigger the other. So I ended up with migraines 24-7 for months. I was a basket case and I really can understand why they call them suicide headaches.

Finally there was nothing to do but go through my past with a fine-toothed comb and see what triggered them. What the doctor and I found was that I never seemed to have migraines when I'm around horses.

Some time after that I bought the horse, Gimme A Dream. He arrived in December and since that month, whenever I feel a migraine coming on, instead of taking drugs, I go out and wrapped my arms around the big moose. You know, it worked! So I bought the other horses to keep him company and I don't suffer from migraines too severely anymore.

Why am I insane? I don't think there is a medical or scientific theory to explain why being around horses helps me, but it does. I still get migraines for sure. We didn't find the cause, yet. But when I get one I spend a lot more time with the horse and I feel a lot better for it.

The internet is great and the social networks have helped me to realize that I'm not the only one who uses horses to control certain maladies - arthritis, heart problems, emphysema, etc. I heard a lot stories of other people keeping the big pets for a whole slew of reasons now.

Maybe I am insane but then again, maybe I'm not.

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