The wonderful folks at Harbor Reins (where I go for equine assisted psychotherapy for PTS) recently relocated from the Corral to a new location in South Raleigh. It is a much quieter place (less traffic noise and few nearby homes), but sadly I had to leave my buddy, Bob the Belgian. He and I had begun to mesh as a team, and I will miss this humongous horse. Change is part of life and Amy (my therapist at Harbor Reins) has introduced me to a group of guys (horses, but you get my drift) at the new place.
For the first few sessions there, it was kind of a meet and greet where I went out into the pasture. It was HUGE, lots of walking to help me make my goal each day. Amy asked me to see if any of them seemed to ‘fit’ and, if so, to let her know which one. I asked her for their names, but she was reticent to let me know them, I wasn’t sure why until I learned them later. Apparently, she did this to avoid letting the names influence my choice. To be honest, knowing their names now, I have to agree it would have done so.
I approached the gang, having no carrots I chose just to walk up to each and introduce myself and speak with them quietly while stroking them. There were two who seemed rather stand-offish, but the other two seemed interested. One in particular, what I think is a pinto with brown and white markings seemed very friendly and over the the time I spent with him, even began to follow me around. The other one, whose name is Freedom, tagged along as I later learned they did so with each other. Once again, had Amy told me their names, Freedom would have been hard to resist for obvious reasons. When I was released from prison, I noticed that Kathy had a statue of a foal curled up on the floor in the living room. I asked her if she’d named it and she said that was my job; I immediately called it “Freedom.”
So, once again Amy showed wisdom in how she allowed me to make a selection based solely on how each of the horses seemed to interact with me. The pinto was much more friendly, coming when I called (sometimes when I did not); two different times he rested his head on my shoulder, something that touched me very much. So, I turned to Amy (who was standing in the shade on the outside of the pasture) and told her that the pinto was my choice. She smiled and told me his name was Commander; if I’d known that I would have saluted him when I approached the first time!
We have now had two full sessions together; it is like the song, “Getting to Know You,” in that we both are learning about each other and how to work together as a team. It is amazing to me how horses (and many other animals) seem so able to sense our emotional state and provide a means of relaxation. Our cats (whom we serve with the utmost respect) had often come to me when I was upset and just been there and provided me with companionship. Horses, though, seem on a different plane. Looking into Commander’s eyes, it seems as though he can understand what I’ve gone through and is telling me that TOGETHER, we can work this out (reminds me of an old Beatles’ song).
I approached the gang, having no carrots I chose just to walk up to each and introduce myself and speak with them quietly while stroking them. There were two who seemed rather stand-offish, but the other two seemed interested. One in particular, what I think is a pinto with brown and white markings seemed very friendly and over the the time I spent with him, even began to follow me around. The other one, whose name is Freedom, tagged along as I later learned they did so with each other. Once again, had Amy told me their names, Freedom would have been hard to resist for obvious reasons. When I was released from prison, I noticed that Kathy had a statue of a foal curled up on the floor in the living room. I asked her if she’d named it and she said that was my job; I immediately called it “Freedom.”
So, once again Amy showed wisdom in how she allowed me to make a selection based solely on how each of the horses seemed to interact with me. The pinto was much more friendly, coming when I called (sometimes when I did not); two different times he rested his head on my shoulder, something that touched me very much. So, I turned to Amy (who was standing in the shade on the outside of the pasture) and told her that the pinto was my choice. She smiled and told me his name was Commander; if I’d known that I would have saluted him when I approached the first time!
We have now had two full sessions together; it is like the song, “Getting to Know You,” in that we both are learning about each other and how to work together as a team. It is amazing to me how horses (and many other animals) seem so able to sense our emotional state and provide a means of relaxation. Our cats (whom we serve with the utmost respect) had often come to me when I was upset and just been there and provided me with companionship. Horses, though, seem on a different plane. Looking into Commander’s eyes, it seems as though he can understand what I’ve gone through and is telling me that TOGETHER, we can work this out (reminds me of an old Beatles’ song).
We continue to work together; today was a pretty good session where I learned some more about my new buddy and team member. It promises to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship (with apologies to Humphrey Bogart).
The journey continues...
The journey continues...
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