‘My horses are my friends’
As a healthcare worker on the frontline, Sam Adams has been through one of the most challenging times of her career – and she’s been helped by her horses.
I’ve always had a connection with horses. When I was six, I had to choose between ballet or riding lessons; I chose riding and I can still remember that buzz I’d get every Sunday, pulling on my riding boots. I got my first pony when I was 12. I trained to become a horse instructor, but I soon realised they were expensive creatures and that I’d need to do something else on the side. So, I joined the ambulance service and now I’m a healthcare worker doing night shifts.
It’s always been full-on working on an elderly medical ward, but when the coronavirus pandemic hit, it suddenly felt as if we were on a film set. One of my colleagues was taken ill with the virus and passed away a week later. It was devastating and knocked the whole team.
That day, as soon as my shift ended, I headed for the stables. I do this every day. It’s the best thing to help me wind down. Wearing a mask for 12 hours is the most claustrophobic feeling in the world, so pottering around at the stables gives me a sense of normality.
I share five horses with my daughter, Hannah, 25: Dougie, Lindt, Joey, Max and Harley, who we re-homed from the Blue Cross. We keep them at a friend’s stables close to our house. Dougie is my favourite, though. He’s very in tune with my feelings. On that sad day, as soon as he saw me coming across the field, he stopped what he was doing as if he knew something was wrong. He leaned his head on to my chest and we just had a moment together.
We live in Staffordshire and have National Trust land around us, so every Friday on my day off, I’ll ride. We’ll head off for a couple of hours and it allows me to just completely switch off and recharge. But whether it’s riding, putting up a fence, or mucking out, just being surrounded by my horses brings me such pleasure.
At the beginning of May, I contracted coronavirus and was bedbound. My husband, Trevor, Hannah and my son, Luke, 23, all had to self-isolate and my friend, Jo, and her daughter, Milly, stepped in to take care of the horses. It was incredibly tough having to hand over our pride and joy for two weeks. It’s the longest I’ve ever gone without seeing them, but Hannah said I looked so ill that she feared I was going to die.
Every day, my friends would send video messages of my horses from the stables, which really kept me going. After three weeks, I finally felt more myself, but the virus had affected my nervous system, leaving my arms and legs weak.
On getting out of bed, the first thing I wanted to do was hug Dougie. I just needed the comfort of that familiar horsey smell. Hannah drove me to the stables, and as I hugged him over the door, I felt just that little bit more normal.
Now, I’m able to visit every day again. My friends still take care of the horses in the mornings, so I’m not exhausting myself, then Hannah and I will come up in the afternoons just to ease myself back into reality. I know when I am back at work as normal, at the end of every shift my horses will always be there, waiting to help me de-stress and relax.
bluecross.org.uk
Just being surrounded by my horses brings me such pleasure