LEAVE YOUR "STUFF" IN 2018

Welcome to the first ever HofZ blog! 
This blog has been written by my dear friend and fellow horse lover, Terri Berwanger. I could think of no one better to write this post to say goodbye to a rather crazy (to say the least) 2018 and start us off right as bravely head into 2019… Thank you, Terri, for being a constant in my life and a big part of my herd.
XXOO
Forest
 
   

As 2018 draws to a close I just want to say to everyone who struggled, keep going. You can do this. To everyone that had a fantastic year, well done. You are proof that if we keep trying anything is possible.
We all have “stuff.” When I was asked to write the first blog for HofZ, this sentence was my first thought. Founder, Forest Franzoi, said this phrase to me countless times this year until it finally made sense.
I first “met” Forest (online, thanks Facebook) in October 2016. She randomly sent me a private message via the advice of a mutual friend regarding my 2016 Vancouver/ Tadmus/ Broken Hearted filly foal. I was skeptical thinking “time waster.” I also didn’t want to sell “Bindi” … my plan was to sell the colt I also bred that year first, then I would have an excuse to keep the filly, my first second generation foal. But fate has other ideas. And to this day, I say selling Bindi was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I got so much more than a sale. I was gifted one of the best friends anyone could ever ask for.
True friends are rare. Very rare. And often times you will not realize this until your life implodes. In one WhatsApp message with the prevailing theme, “we all have stuff,” I decided I had to do better.  And I am.
Herd of Zebras is all about celebrating our unique stripes. More to the point “our stuff” that makes us different. At some stage our hopes and dreams have changed. Due to illness, injury, living with chronic disease, job loss, loss of a child, the loss people we love or are in love with, and other life changing alternations we haven’t designed nor do we want.
Then one day the fog clears when we adjust to what we must take on. We decide. We ourselves decide, what we choose to define as “our stuff.” It can be negative or it can be positive. I think most of us dwell on the negative. We get handed a situation that we did not want, but we can still shine. This “stuff” can be used to label ourselves or it can be something we use to make us a better version of ourselves.  
HofZ was founded by two remarkable women that wanted a way to show what we’ve been through in our journey of life does not need to define us. We need to not be afraid. We need not dwell too long in the negative. Their goal to help unite people together to form a tribe, or better yet a herd, where we can rely on and help each other in times of need. By wearing our stripes with a smile, we say, this can be the steal of all I am. Please join us, share your stories, and tell us about the unique stripes you bare.

Blessed Be,
Terri Berwanger
 
Terri is 49 currently living in Ireland with her two dogs, three horses, and four cats. She breeds Irish Sport Horses and works as a mare midwife at the largest thoroughbred breeding facility in the world. Previously she worked on the race track in the USA for Wayne Lukas and Nick Zito. She has also worked for top names in show jumping such as Richard Spooner.