From Control To Trust: Lessons From The Pasture
As my writing journey continues, I am finding my ‘themes’ are twofold. At first, I started writing about lessons I am learning while being surrounded by horses, Theo in particular. Lately, I have been noticing something else bubbling up within my heart, and it’s my faith deepening.
It’s been quite a summer here in North Texas. I think we hit over 60 days with no rain and what seemed like 7 or 8 weeks where it was over 100, or dang close to it. With the heat came challenges, and I found myself wondering what I dislike more: winters with the timeless question ‘to blanket or not to blanket’, or summer when walking across the pasture felt like I was walking across the face of the sun. Both make me worry because I just want Theo to be comfortable.
But something else started happening over the summer. I was digging deeper into my faith and really trying to understand things like ‘giving it to God’. Or ‘God is in control’. I certainly can say the sentences, and I truly want it to be the case, but then I jump right back in the driver’s seat seeking control. I often joke that I wasn’t born a control freak, but life made me that way. Behind every joke is a nugget of truth, and I do believe that is the case for most of us. We have learned along the way that we had better take care of something ourselves before it explodes in our faces. So, we carry the world on our backs. I am learning we were never meant to carry the world, and we burn out, and burnout can take on a life of its own. So now I pray to give my heart the peace it needs to do what I can, when I can, and simply let the rest go.
Not long ago I wrote about praying for a change and God sending me a horse. I always thought this was all connected somehow but couldn’t pin down how exactly. The horse reveals our inner self, and so we can learn a lot about who we are by spending time with our horses. Recently I saw a reel that said something to the effect of: my horse has an attitude problem and is a drama queen; wonder where she gets that from? I had to laugh at that because Theo is a subtle stinker. He is low-key, until he isn’t. Wonder where he gets that from??
So, on a hot summer day, I’m in the pasture, and I see Theo standing in a place we call the grove. He’s just hanging out enjoying the shade, and my first thought was, “God Provides”. I watched him in the comfort of the trees and realized my entire perspective is changing. A year or so ago, I would have seen him standing there and thought how smart he was to settle in a shady spot. But now the entire picture shifted to that of God’s perfection. Trees provide shade, or act like an umbrella during the storms, and the animals know how to use them as such.
As life continues to change, my perspective is changing with it. Solutions are provided; we just need to be smart enough to recognize them. Everything is temporary; the heat of the summer will eventually bring the chill of the winter. Theo lives in the moment. He isn’t checking the forecast and dreading another week of unbearable heat. Nope, he found shelter in the trees and knew mamma would hose him down so he could roll in the dirt. He enjoyed what the day brought, especially when it included watermelons and hoses.
Written by Kimberlee Delany
Kimberlee Delany is a multi-faceted athlete, technology professional, and writer based in North Texas. Whether commanding a room in the corporate tech sector, executing a precision lift on the national weightlifting stage, or working in the pasture with horses, Kimberlee brings an unwavering sense of "grit and resilience" to everything she touches.
Kimberlee grew up and spent the formative years of her career on the East Coast. Holding a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, she channeled her understanding of human behavior into a highly successful, multi-decade career in the technology industry. Demonstrating a classic trajectory of continuous improvement, Kimberlee built her tech career from the ground up—starting at the IT help desk and climbing through every technical role to establish herself as a high-level Technical Business Advisor.
An avid athlete for over twenty years, Kimberlee has explored a wide range of physical disciplines from triathlons to Olympic weightlifting, competing in local and regional events up and down the East Coast and across Texas.
Today, she is an elite competitive Masters Olympic weightlifter within the USA Masters framework. Coached out of Dallas, she won third place overall at the National Championships in Boise, Idaho, and went on to represent the United States on the international stage at the International Masters Weightlifting Association (IMWA) World Championships, posting 72 kg total. For Kimberlee, the barbell is both a passion and a vital release—a practice she famously calls "sweating out the crazy" to balance the demands of an intense corporate career.
After turning 50, Kimberlee boldly stepped into an entirely new world by learning to ride and handle horses. This pursuit quickly evolved from a hobby into a profound personal calling. Today, she is certified in Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) and has become a regular contributing writer for Equine Business Magazine.
Now in her vibrant post-career chapter, Kimberlee is exploring how horses act as mirrors to our souls, helping us embrace vulnerability and reshape our lives. She is a living testament to continuous evolution, proving every day that our most powerful transformations often happen after 50.
This article is from the October 2026 issue of Equine Business Magazine
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