Hi

Welcome to this month’s bumper fun HorseConscious Newsletter!

I mentioned last month that I would have news for you of some developments with HorseConscious and I am delighted to announce that the first of these is that we now have our own Facebook page!

Yes, you can join in the community that is already growing very fast over on Faceook at:

HorseConscious on Facebook

We already have a very active and vibrant community over on the HorseConsciousCommunity site but Facebook has become such a phenomenon that everyone seems to be on there, so it made sense to also set up home there too.

We will be posting regular articles and videos there as well as featuring items making the news and what we think you might find interesting.

We would like to learn which is your preference of site. So if you are a regular on the HorseConsciousCommunity site but are also a Facebook member, perhaps you would like to take your conversations, exchanges and comments across to the HorseConscious Facebook page. Facebook makes it so easy to upload and share photo’s and I encourage you to do this on the new page.

It would be great too if you could share the page with your other Friends on Facebook by using the link at the top left just underneath the picture that says: Suggest to friends

For those of you not yet on Facebook, why not use this as an opportunity to dip your toe in the water over there by joining your friends from HorseConscious? That way, you’ll have people to connect with right away. It’s very easy to get started, just go to Facebook.com and follow the instructions.

I look forward to chatting with you online!

In the last Newsletter, I began the story of ‘Beautiful Jim Key’. I didn’t reach the end of the book as I hoped but I will bring you what I have read so far because it makes for a fascinating read, especially in comparison to the story of Lukas – see article below.

To remind you of the story so far, Beautiful Jim Key was a horse who achieved fame around the turn of the 20th century. What made Jim special was his ability to read, write, spell and do mathematics.
For example, he could:

• Spell names called out from the audience
• Add, multiply and subtract numbers below 25
• Bring back the correct change from a cash register
• Correctly post mail into letterboxes marked with letters of the alphabet
• Collect a silver dollar from the bottom of a large glass bucket filled with water by submerging his head and without drinking a drop

His owner was Dr. William Key, a former slave who taught himself to be a veterinarian and was also a very successful businessman. However, he and Jim did not achieve their fame until they teamed up with Albert Rogers, a New Yorker from a wealthy background.

Although Mr. Rogers’ family had several business concerns in which he worked, he grew an interest in the amusement field and took to investing in and promoting fairground rides and attractions. He also fancied himself somewhat of a philanthropist and became interested in the popular humane movement, which was made up of many disparate groups.

Mr. Rogers realised that these groups were very elitist in nature and he believed that if he could help them connect to the masses, then their challenges of money and image would disappear. So when he partnered up with Dr. Key and Jim, he knew he had found the answer.

At first, he tried contacting the various humane groups in the cities Jim and his show visited in the north east of the country but most of the time he was given the brush off. So what Mr. Rogers chose to do was to perform for schools and orphanages as I described in the last Newsletter. With such visits and Jim’s growing reputation and fame, one by one the humane groups started to endorse Jim and his feats.

Within 3 years, almost 300,000 children had signed the Jim Key Pledge:

"I promise always to be kind to animals"

Thanks then to the efforts of Mr. Rogers, the amazing talents demonstrated by Jim and the enduring patience shown by Dr. Key, the humane movement started to become mainstream. Its focus broadened from the protection of animals to celebrating the connection between humans and non-humans through acts of kindness. Sound familiar?

During this period, Jim made friends with a terrier/collie/schnauzer mongrel that the troupe decided to call Monk. Monk became Jim’s guardian and would stay on his back for hours on end warding people away from his friend by barking and baring his teeth. Who said horses don’t want to be ridden?!

Jim never stopped learning and when asked during one performance, correctly spelt the word P-E-N-N-S-Y-L-V-A-N-I-A. During the same show, he also correctly selected the card with 22 on it in answer to the question: "How much is four times five, plus five, minus three?" Now I ask you, how many adults could perform this feat nowadays??

All in all, it’s a fascinating story yet at the same time, it’s hard to believe what little progress we have made since then. More than a 100 years later and we are still fighting for rights for animals for them to be treated with respect, dignity and kindness. I guess sometimes one must take 1 step backwards to take 3 steps forward, so let’s hope that’s where we are now. And although you may not realise it, your treatment of the horses in your community and your continued support of HorseConscious all contributes to today’s version of the humane movement.

I will have definitely finished the book over the holiday period and will bring you the conclusion in our Year End edition. For more information on how you can help with the next Newsletter, please see below.

With the Holiday Season fast approaching, how about spreading the good word about how to be HorseConscious and give someone the gift of the wonderful teaching aids from the Teachers. Here are some ideas for you:

INTRODUCTION TO THE WATERHOLE RITUALS

$39.95

The seven Waterhole Rituals are the starting point for your journey with your horse. Based on the daily ceremonies and rituals that wild horses display in their natural environment, these interactions set up order and community in the herd and are instinctual for all horses.

THE SECRETS OF DRAWING HORSES


$39.95

Kim McElroy shares inspiring techniques for drawing that will change the way you look at horses. Using the medium of pastel chalk, Kim show you how your perception of horses is the most influential factor in creating beautiful art.

THE PATH OF THE HORSE


$29.95

‘The Path of the Horse’ is one woman’s journey to discover something valuable that had been lost. Where had the majesty and freedom of horses gone? Where had that connection she had with horses as a child gone? On her journey she met some of today’s leading visionaries and teachers and learned how there is a new dawn in the way we can relate to horses, a new paradigm in horsemanship.

Now, for a change in pace. Here’s a poem that was sent in by our old friend Lee Schultz that I rather liked, hope you do too:

FOR THIS

Once I put my ear to his neck
and heard the throb of blue white
water
through muscles hardening
to mountains.

The soft wind through the caves
of his nostrils
had quiet pools
where the trout rose to ripples
ringing purple horizons.

The high hearted chest moved
and the brown black globe
of his eye
focused the traps I wore
into flickering clippings
smaller than high crows flying
in water below.

For this he breathes:
The lesson
to be listened to
with ear on neck,
the sound of mane-fluffed thoughts

OK, that about wraps it up for another month as we head into the holiday season. We will be back with an abbreviated Newsletter at the end of the month and we would really appreciate your help with this. We would love to feature some of your stories in the next issue and so it would be great if you could send in one or more of the following:

• Your holiday season stories
• Your funny horse stories from 2010
• An account of your progress in training your horses through the year
• Photos of the above
• Your poems like Lee’s above
• You book reviews

We can’t promise to publish every entry but will do our best, so do please send in your stories, poems and photos via email to info@horseconscious.com and we will try and cram them all in!

May I wish you the very best for you, your family and your four-legged friends, not just for this month but into the New Year, and have a wonderful time together.

Best wishes

Mark

Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened. – Anatole France

UNIQUE EQUINE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOUNDED IN GEORGIA

An innovative new organization has been founded to assist horse owners who need help providing feed for their animals. Stamp Out Starvation (SOS) of Horses was founded in October by a group of Georgia equestrians who were all too familiar with assisting malnourished and mistreated horses.

SOS is not the average horse rescue, as founder and CEO Doris Buckley explains: "SOS does not foster or rehabilitate horses. We will provide the assistance necessary–feed, hay, medical expenses, etc.–to those who are trying to meet the financial challenges of keeping their horse through tough economic times."

By taking a proactive approach and assisting horse owners before the situation turns deadly, SOS hopes to greatly reduce the number of horses suffering from starvation due to a tough economic situation.

"[Owners in need] would complete an application that requires justification of assistance," Buckley explains. "The application will be reviewed by our board, and an assessment of need would be made. No cash will be distributed. We will line up feed stores in their local area to assist or deliveries of items we may receive in from donations. We will also work closely with vets in the owner’s area if they have an emergency."

Because SOS is a newly formed organization, it has not yet received approval of its application for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. Buckley expects that SOS should receive approval within six months.

"We are anxious to begin fundraising before the winter months, when need is expected to spike," says Buckley. More information about SOS is available on their website.

Note: US Equine Rescue League has a similar program. For more information on the Equine Crisis Intervention Fund, visit the site.

thehorse.com, by: Erica Larson, News Editor November 16 2010, Article # 17259

‘To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus, and witch the world with noble horsemanship.’ - Shakespeare

NEW ARTICLES ON HORSECONSCIOUS

KLAUS FERDINAND HEMPFLING: IMMEDIATE CONNECTING WITH HORSES, PART I

Personal interview with Klaus about connecting with horses, with fundamental insights. This video describes important parts of the fundamental work of the horse therapist Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling.

To read the compete article and more of Klaus’ articles, visit Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling on HorseConscious

CAROLYN RESNICK: HOW TO APPROACH YOUR HORSE IN TRAINING AND PERFORMANCE

As we go forward with the Waterhole Rituals™ in my blog, I am speaking to you either on Sharing Territory™, or shaping behavior, or working on the performance and training of the horse. How we approach the training of the horse will help the friendship grow. We need to bring a program that inspires the horse to want to learn and follow our direction. To do this, we need to keep tabs on our horse’s attitude while we are working with our horse, and then we need to make adjustments in our leadership to keep the quality of the connection.

To read the compete article and more of Carolyn’s articles, visit Carolyn Resnick on HorseConscious

LINDA KOHANOV: WHAT WOULD GEORGE WASHINGTON DO? PART 1

Here’s a condensed version of an excerpt from Chapter 3, “Hidden Wisdom,” from my upcoming book The Power of the Herd. Copyright 2010 by Linda Kohanov.

Imagine if a supervisor asked you to complete a project with only ten percent of the information available to you, if schools were only committed to teaching ten percent of what you would need to succeed in life. And yet that’s precisely what’s happening as we overemphasize the spoken and written word in business, education and relationship. Once we realize that only ten percent of human communication is verbal, telephone/computer/text messaging innovations all too easily become convenient, deceptively seductive tools that limit human potential, creating voluntary learning disabilities in the realms of emotional and social intelligence, ultimately fostering a kind of de-evolution if left unchecked over generations….

To read the compete article and more of Linda’s articles, visit Linda Kohanov on HorseConscious

CONGRATULATIONS LUKAS AND KAREN!
The World’s Smartest Horse Now A GUINNESS WORLD RECORD HOLDER!!
THE RECORD FELT ‘ROUND THE WORLD

Chino Hills, California – Lukas, the World’s Smartest Horse (according to The World Records Academy) has done it!! Guinness World Records has officially recognized Lukas’ history making achievement: "Most numbers correctly identified by a horse in one minute." The seventeen year old ex-racer and former rescue met all the guidelines and identified NINETEEN numbers in less than sixty seconds. Karen Murdock, Lukas’ owner/trainer had quite a list for her beloved gelding during the event. Guidelines for the attempt included the following:

• Qualified veterinary surgeon present.

• No equipment whatsoever to be used by the handler (including a halter) – Lukas loose and entirely free in a round pen.

• No touching or pointing by the handler or any other person.

• A single verbal request (a number) solely must be made by the handler.

• The numbers must be placed on the floor/table in front of the horse 20 centimeters apart.

• The horse must return toward center after each number and make a conclusive selection.

• Only correct responses are counted. ü Numbers spoken at random and non-consecutive.

• Two expert witnesses. ü Two expert time keepers with stopwatches accurate to 1/100th of a second.

• Static (non-stopping) filming of entire attempt and focused on attempt at all times.

• Still photographs documenting the above.

Once again, Hadi Khalil, veteran producer at International Production and Advertising was on hand to film this momentous occasion; IPA staff photographers and Linda Alexander Walton generously donated still pictures. Lukas’ veterinarian, Dr. Don Scott Vrono, assisted with overseeing the event. Expert witnesses included Stacey Erb and Kathleen (Tat) Yakutis, timers were Chuck Erb and Doug Murdock. Dawn Mellen, President of After The Finish Line, was on hand as Lukas dedicated his attempt to benefit those less fortunate. According to Murdock, "I’m very grateful for the help of so many good friends who have helped to bring this about. We’re also very fortunate to have had the support of animal lovers all over the world who have sent encouraging messages and given us inspiration. I also want to express my appreciation to Guinness for their acknowledgement of Lukas’ abilities and to Guinness Talent Manager Louise Ireland for her wonderful assistance.

What’s next for the Guinness World Record Holder? Lukas plans to continue to share his message of hope and happiness for all creatures. Will there be another record attempt in the future? Lukas isn’t saying yet, but he is practicing identifying his shapes.

Visit his site for more information and the documentary!

COLD WEATHER DIETS

Those cold winter months of mud, slush, and frozen ground … owners dread them, but feed dealers, anticipating increased sales, often look forward to them. The horses? For the most part, they don’t seem to care, and in fact, many seem to be energized by the crisp air and chilly breezes. While very young, very old, or ailing horses might need specific changes in routine, healthy horses with an intact hair coat can usually tolerate winter weather with few problems if owners pay attention to basic feeding and management principles.

Water

If it’s not the most important winter consideration, water is at least near the top of the list. Even when the horse is not working and sweating, water consumption is necessary to prevent impaction of ingested material in the intestinal tract. Horses naturally tend to drink somewhat less water when the temperature drops, so every effort should be made to ensure sufficient intake. Owners can start with these management steps:

Provide a constant supply of clean water that is not too cold. Experts disagree on the exact "favorite" water temperature. Horses will drink water that is quite cold, but they tend to ingest a larger amount when water is warmed to around 45 or 50 degrees F. Water that is hot to the touch is not suitable. Make sure water sources aren’t frozen, either by using insulated buckets, installing an electric heater, or frequently providing warmed water.

NOTE: Electric shock will back horses off a water tank, even if they are extremely thirsty. If you have a heated water tank that horses are not using, check and check again (use an extremely sensitive voltmeter, or schedule a visit from an electrician) to be certain there is no "stray" voltage. Some horses will react to voltage that is too slight for humans to detect, while other horses don’t seem to be bothered. Adding water to feed, giving occasional bran mashes, and sprinkling salt on feed to stimulate a thirst response are all useful techniques, but these measures by themselves might not ensure adequate water intake. Also, don’t count on horses eating snow to stay hydrated. Melting snow in the mouth and stomach uses so much energy that it’s difficult for the horse to maintain a safe body temperature.

Hay

Fermentation of fiber in the horse’s hindgut is the major heat source that keeps horses comfortable through colder months. Therefore, a steady hay supply is crucial. While many horses continue to graze some pasture, hay usually provides the majority of winter forage. Type and amount of hay varies depending on a horse’s size, metabolism, and workload. At a minimum, start with the basic guideline of feeding enough hay to equal about 1.5-2% of the horse’s body weight (around 15-20 pounds a day for a horse weighing 1,000 pounds) and increase as needed when the temperature drops.

Easy keepers and horses doing minimal work do well on medium-quality grass hay (can contain a few weeds, might have been cut when a little more mature than optimum). Horses with average metabolisms will do better on good-quality grass hay (mostly free of weeds, made from grass that was not overmature at cutting). Heavily exercised horses or those with special needs (older horses, thin horses, horses recovering from illness) might need a grass-legume mix or even a straight alfalfa hay. As a general rule, horses that shiver and regularly clean up every scrap of hay probably need to have their hay rations increased. Horses that simply enjoy eating might also consume every flake in sight, but their rations do not need to be increased. Use a weight tape every few weeks through the winter to track body condition changes, which will reveal if a heavy-coated horse that appears fat is actually losing weight. Likewise, horses that leave some hay untouched might seem to have been overfed, but it is also possible they are leaving weeds, rough plants, or moldy flakes. Inspect the rejected material and purchase better-quality hay if necessary.

Stalled horses have plenty of time to pick through their hay, munching a few mouthfuls now and then as the hours pass. Pastured horses that eat hay in a group setting need to be monitored to be sure that low-status animals have adequate access to hay. Very timid horses might need to be fed hay separately or in smaller groups. Space hay piles widely in the field and offer several extra piles to minimize this problem.

Concentrates

Winter diets usually include concentrates for two reasons: nutrients and energy. Hay and dormant grasses don’t have the same nutritional value as fresh pasture, and this lack can be overcome by feeding a fortified sweet feed or pelleted product. Concentrates also pack a lot more energy than grass or hay, and horses that are eating plenty of good-quality hay and are still losing weight might need additional calories from concentrates in cold, windy, damp weather. As with hay selection, the type of concentrate depends on the individual horse, and most feed dealers offer a variety of choices to meet the needs of young, mature, old, working, or breeding horses. Feeds containing beet pulp or soy hulls include highly digestible fiber along with more traditional sources of energy. Corn oil, rice bran, and other fat products boost the caloric density of a horse’s ration. Overweight horses that need vitamins and minerals in a low-calorie package can be given a supplement that provides only these nutrients. Remember to feed no more than about five pounds of pellets or sweet feed at one time, breaking larger feedings into several small meals spaced throughout the day.

Beyond The Basics

A winter diet containing water, hay, and concentrated feed is a good starting point. However, managers, can ensure their horses’ comfort by following these additional steps:

Horses should have access to shelter from extreme weather. This can be a barn, run-in shed, windbreak, or even a grove of trees. As with access to hay, low-status horses might be blocked from shelter by more aggressive animals, and alternative grouping might be necessary. Owners should be sure horses have proper dental care and periodic dewormings so that feed can be properly digested and utilized. Daily inspection of horses in winter months should include a light grooming, an all-over check for injuries, and an inspection for skin problems. Water consumption and manure consistency should be monitored, as very dry manure is a sign that the horse might be dehydrated.

thehorse.com,by: Kentucky Equine Research Inc. November 12 2010, Article # 17245Reprinted with the permission of Kentucky Equine Research (copyright holder). For more information on horse nutrition and health visit www.ker.com

JULIET GETTY: FEED YOUR HORSE LIKE A HORSE

Feeding is the foundation of every horse’s health, and every owner cares about it, but answers can be hard to find. Based on solid science and the author’s long experience, Feed Your Horse Like A Horse illuminates the secrets of equine nutrition and points the way toward lifelong vitality for your horse. Part I explains the physiology of the horse’s digestion and nutrient use; Part II offers recommendations for specific conditions such as insulin resistance and laminitis, as well as discussion about feeding through the life stages, from foals to athletes to aged horses. Whether you are a novice horse owner or a seasoned professional, Feed Your Horse Like A Horse will be your most valuable resource on equine nutrition. You’ll begin in Section 1 with an up-to-date overview of nutrition and horse physiology that is designed for everyone, from the novice to the lifelong horseman. Section 2 will empower you to make the right feeding decisions that support your horse’s innate needs, regardless of his condition or activity type. As a reference book, you have the freedom to choose which sections to read. You can buy the book at Amazon.

WOUNDED HEALER

Last year I watched the movie ‘Instinct’ with Anthony Hopkins starring as a man who leaves humanity behind to live with animals only to return to society under unpleasant circumstances. While in prison, he meets a psychiatrist played by Cuba Gooding Jr. The movie is inspired by Daniel Quinn’s novel Ishmael and gives the viewer valuable lessons about human and animal relationships.

In the movie there is a scene where Hopkins, who previously has lived with gorillas in the wild, is allowed to visit the gorillas at the zoo. Saddened by the state of the captive animals, he relives some traumatic memories from the past. He also, to make a point, opens the cage door of the imprisoned silver back male. Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character, who is there with him, is aptly horrified. He is clearly afraid the enormous gorilla will surely escape.

“He won’t come out,” Anthony Hopkins says. “You see? Even if he can.” And it’s true; the huge male ape barely gives the open door a second look. Anthony Hopkins looks sad. “Not far from here is a fence, and on the other side of that fence is freedom, and he can smell it. He’ll never try to get there, because he’s given up. By now he thinks freedom is something he dreamed.”

There are many scenes in this movie that remind me of horses and the various ways we have taken their freedom, but this particular one reminded me of a certain gray mare I met two years ago almost to the date. My good friend Sam introduced us on a cold winter morning in California. My first impression of this little, gray horse was heart-wrenching; although at first contact she seemed sociable, I could feel an overpowering sadness welling up inside me. Her back sagged and the muscling on the underside of her neck told a story of tension and resistance.

“This is Sapphire,” Sam said. The mare turned her head and touched my hand, her ears carefully placed forward, her expression neutral. She was kind, but her gesture was slightly mechanical, as if she was merely behaving the way she had learned to behave to avoid trouble.

“Touch her mouth,” Sam said, nodding toward the mare’s head. I wrinkled my brow. What did he mean?

Curious, I slid my fingers down the mare’s nose to her lips. When my hand came to the corner of her mouth, I stopped. The flesh of her lips was hard, like it wasn’t flesh at all, but a solid piece of wood. I pulled my hand away, confused.

“What is that?” I couldn’t help but touch it again. Saphie turned her head and I felt the other side of her mouth. It was even worse, the hardness extending toward her cheek.

“It’s scarring,” Sam said.

“Scarring?” Even though I was already fully aware of the harmful effects of the bit, I had never actually seen such extensive tissue damage.

“Imagine what it took to produce that kind of scarring,” Sam said. He shook his head. “This horse has gone through a lot.”

And that she had.

In fact, she had several loose and cracked teeth from the heavy hands that had ridden her during her 14 years of life. She was spooky, nervous and had been labeled a crazy Arab mare at her previous home, a riding school, where she had been placed after what Sam called “her fall from grace” as a prestigious dressage horse. She had a reputation of being barn sour to the point that she didn’t want to leave the stall never mind the property. If you turned her out she would run herself into the ground.

Saphie didn’t trust people and was constantly in flight mode which meant reacting to everything around her. She was a horse that literally could not think about eating hay, grain, treats or even green grass when a person was anywhere near her. Not that humans wanted anything to do with her at this point anyways, not a soul seemed to care about this sad wreck of a horse.

Saphie came into Sam’s life at a time that he was starting to work with “natural horsemanship” something he now looks back on with a sense of sadness and shame. I know how he feels, having been down a similar road myself. We all start our path somewhere; many things we learn on the way make sense at the time, but often later seem harsh and even abusive. But, it is important to get on the path, and sometimes methods we abandon later can be, as Sam says, “doorways to something different”.

So Sam did what he felt was the right thing. He would let Saphie loose in the arena and interrupt her frantic cantering by demanding her attention, cutting her off and forcing her to change direction by waving a flag at her. He would let her run around him at the end of the rope halter and long line until she was worn down, exhausted and often dripping wet. He worked her in the round pen, he backed her up over and over again by wiggling or bumping the rope halter on her nose.

Later, in an email to me, Sam wrote: “All of these so-called natural ways of doing things involved (negative conditioning) persistent pressure, punishment or mental /physical pain. Needless to say Saphie was not impressed with the whole natural horsemanship system.”

When Sam moved to a new barn he decided to try expanding Saphie’s territory. This involved leaving her stall door open all day. How ingenious. I wished I could do the same. What would Little Love do in such a situation? What would any horse do? I had always thought a horse whom was offered such a possibility would rush out and run around. Wasn’t that why we kept them locked up in the first place?

But not Saphie. She was like the gorilla in the movie, who thought freedom was something he dreamed. It took the little gray mare weeks to merely peek out the open door. The slightest noise or perceived danger would make her bolt back into the safety of the stall. But, when you give something enough time, changes will start happening. Slowly, one step at a time, Saphie made her way out of her prison. Soon the barn isle became the place to meet boys and clean up spilled hay. But, although the barn doors were never closed, she never dared venture outside.

To give her some help, Sam decided to start leading her outside with a halter. He would walk her away from the barn and let her go. But as soon he released his grip on the mare, Saphie would panic and run back in. She was in such a hurry to get back to the safety of her stall that on one occasion she actually fell over. This was a clear message to Sam and he let her be.

Again weeks went by and although Saphie now seemed completely comfortable in the barn isle Sam thought she would never build up the confidence to go exploring. Then, one windy day, Saphie came out of her stall and marched with rhythm and purpose straight out of the barn. She walked calmly past a strange flapping blue tarp that had been placed on the fence to dry. She went all the way down the hill to say hi to some horses that where turned out in the arena. “If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would never have believed it,” Sam said when recounting the story to me that cold California morning when I first met Saphie. “And after that day she would come and go at will. Just like that.”

I only met Saphie for a short time that year, but despite our short contact, I could not forget her, I could not forget her story. Hearing about Sam’s experiences with the mare had changed my perception of freedom. When we choose to cage an animal, we choose to take something valuable from them – for life. Setting them physically free will not guarantee setting free their spirit, for sometimes it is not just the bars that hold the caged animal inside. There is so much more to freedom than our environment and circumstances. Freedom is a state of mind.

The next time I met Saphie, Sam had moved her to his own property, where she lived outside with another horse. There was no more “natural horsemanship” i.e. moving her around in various ways. Instead, there was an increasing amount of time spent being together, doing nothing but sharing territory. Saphie seemed to me a completely different animal than the fearful, traumatized mare from the previous winter. Sam, too, had changed. The year before he had wondered why he had chosen to take in the “crazy” mare, and I had told him that he had it all wrong, it had been Saphie who had chosen him. She had seen his potential. Even in the midst of her own painful life, she had been able to recognize a kindred spirit, a person who could evolve to understand.

It never ceases to amaze me how generous and forgiving horses are. I believe I have said this before and I will not stop saying it: horses are the most forgiving creatures on earth. Take a horse like Saphie who had no reason to trust ever again; humans had only proven to take, never to give. Yet she chose to trust again. I am utterly speechless in front of such grace of character. Do horses innately understand that the only way to move into the future is to forgive the past? Are they all born to be wounded healers?

Recently I got an email from my friend Sam. Sapphire, the little gray mare, died a few weeks ago. According to Sam, she left our world in a true Saphie nature, suddenly and without a fuss. In his email Sam wrote: “I found great solace in that she was my first true teacher and that she was generous enough to show me a side of horses I did not know even existed before her. If you asked her she would probably have said I was a tough nut to crack but that I think he is starting to get some of it. I have walked a little way along the path with him and now it is time to move on.”

Saphie spent her last summer with Sam making many human friends, one of which was a six-year-old girl called Rosemary. Rosemary would invite Saphie out of her pen with a look and a call of her name. They companion walked (no tack) over to a flat area where Rosemary would spend time grooming while Saphie had a pre-practice snack. After this they headed off to the arena at liberty to see what would evolve. Some days they would run and trot together, others they would just lay in the sand. If it felt mutually right, Rosemary would slip a cordillo or a rope halter on Saphie and using body language ask her to come and stand at the mounting block. Rosemary would then clamber on bareback and the two would play for a short while until one would let the other know they wanted to do something else.

This, I believe, in Saphie’s world was called freedom.

In the Path of the Horse movie Linda Kohanov says: “They’ve carried us around on their backs for centuries waiting for us to notice that they aren’t here just to help us evolve in terms of mastering nature and moving around the planet. They are actually waiting for us to get to the point where we are ready to evolve to a higher level of consciousness and awareness.”

The little gray mare came into Sam’s life when he needed a teacher. I met her just in passing, but yet her wisdom followed me across the world. She reminded me that every horse has wisdom to share, but especially the wounded ones; those horses that have seen the dark side of man. This is an important message to pass on to anyone who dares listen and so, by telling Sapphire’s story, I am passing it to you. It is a message of friendship, love, freedom and forgiveness – it is a message of hope and healing.

by Katarina Algoni, photos by Julie Mummerlyn from Discovering Horses (this is the mother of the little girl in the story), www.equineinsanity.blogspot.com

DIARY DATES:

December 3-5

Anna Twinney, Reiki Master Certification, Golden, CO, info@reachouttohorses.com

December 4-5

Anna Twinney, Reiki I & II Certificaion, Golden, CO, info@reachouttohorses.com

December 6

Anna Twinney, Reiki for Horses, The Horse Protection League, Golden, CO, info@reachouttohorses.com

December 17-18

Anna Twinney, Animal Communication Consultations, Zen Dog, Denver, CO, info@reachouttohorses.com

January 13-19

Mark Rashid, Horsemanship Clinic, North Carolina Therapeutic Riding Center, Mebane, NC, clball13@aol.com

January 14-17

Linda Kohanov, Black Horse Wisdom, Tucson, AZ, www.taoofequus.com

January 27-30

Linda Kohanov, Pioneering Spirit, Leadership for the 21 Century, Tucson, AZ, www.taoofequus.com

January 29-31

Debra Olson Daniels, Clicker Expo: Clicker Training Conference, Portland, OR debraolsondaniels@wildblue.net

February 1

Debra Olson Daniels, One Day Seminar with Alexandra Kurland, Toutle, WA, debraolsondaniels@wildblue.net

February 5-6

Kathy Pike, Dance of Authenticity, Tucson, AZ, http://coachingwithhorses.com/calendar

February 5-10

Kathy Pike, Equine Facilitate Learning and Coaching – Level One Training (includes above workshop), Tucson, AZ, http://coachingwithhorses.com/calendar

February 24-27

Sandra Wallin, The Art of Equus, Maple Ridge, BC www.chironsway.com

Various dates – Please quote HorseConscious when booking

For details of all of all Anna Twinney’s events and workshops click here

Various dates – Please quote HorseConscious when booking

Kathy Pike’s calendar and clinics can be found here

Various dates – Please quote HorseConscious when booking

Details of Epona workshops by Linda Kohanov can be found by clicking here

Remember:
HorseConscious Members can promote their own events here too!