Hold Your Horses

A song I adapted from my Mom’s original version to make it more relevant to me.

This song has a really personal story behind it because, in a way, I didn’t write the original version.

When I was little, my mum used to sing a song called Hold Your Horses to me. I absolutely loved it. To me, it was just a funny song about cowboys and horses, and I’d ask her to sing it over and over again.

It wasn’t until years later that I realised it was actually a love song.

I remember laughing when that finally clicked. I must have been far too young to understand what the lyrics were really about, but children don’t hear songs the way adults do. I just heard my mum’s voice, and that made it feel safe and comforting.

Years later, I decided to write my own Hold Your Horses. I kept the warmth and playfulness I remembered, but I made it my own. My version is still about taking your time and not rushing into love, but it’s also a little thank you to my mum for giving me one of my earliest musical memories.

Our relationship has never been simple. There were long periods when she wasn’t around, and I missed her more than I knew how to say. But some of my happiest childhood memories are of her singing to me, and this song lets me hold onto one of them.

Every time I perform it, I’m reminded that music has a funny way of connecting people across time. Sometimes a song outlives the moment it was written for and becomes part of someone else’s story. That’s what happened with Hold Your Horses. It started with my mum, and somewhere along the way it became mine.