Part 25 – The Master Appears….

Okay!  Just a little joke for the feature photo!!   I thought this photo above would resemble what a master might look like – stopping the wild horses with his ‘power’.  In fact this was me just re-enacting the pose from the Jurassic Park movie a few years back.

The horses were standing on their mats and I took up the pose!  They probably wondered what I was doing!!!

Or maybe this is the image of a Master?

Back then, when I heard the term ‘Horse Master’, ‘Horse Guru’ or ‘Horse Whisperer’, it conjured up an image of an all powerful being able to tame any horse – just by their very presence.

Fast forward to 2018 and I smile at that image!!!  I know better now!

But early in 2010, I had heard that a certain horse master was coming to Australia.  I was excited to see him – and  even though it was expensive –  I booked tickets.  He would be here in April.

I had watched his videos and was fascinated at the ease with which he rode a horse – a wild horse! They were about 30 years old, but still, they were inspiring!   I was so looking forward to seeing him!

About two weeks before the event, I had a message from the organiser to say he had to cancel.  I was bitterly disappointed.  She said he was very sorry – and if anyone who had booked into the event wanted to attend his summer courses in Europe, he would offer free accommodation to them.

Someone else I knew had also wanted to see him – and she decided she would venture to Europe to his course.  Ohhh – what a dream!!!  I kept on thinking about what a wonderful experience it would be, and the bonus of having free accommodation was enticing!

I still needed help for Magnum.  I kept telling him I was going to find someone who could help.  In fact, I promised him I would find someone.   I didn’t know how I could go forward with the clicker training when he was so anxious – snatching the treat and running – or pushing himself to do something with so much obvious stress.

After some discussion with Doug,  I decided to go!  After all, I was now an empty nester and it was time to travel!

Doug was left in charge of the animals for the month – and off I went with two others.  Let’s call them Jane and Jenny.  I knew Jane from here – and we met Jenny in Sydney.  It was a long time since I had travelled on a long haul flight – and we were exhausted by the time we arrived in Europe – but full of excitement!

It took a while to get to the final destination – and we were to meet our fourth housemate when we arrived.

We were on a small island – very pretty – it had been quite a  journey there!

 

This was to be our home for the next four weeks!

COMING UP –  THE MAGIC STARTS…

IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS STORY, PLEASE START AT THE BEGINNING HERE – Part 1 – An Introduction

PLEASE SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR PREVIOUS BLOG POSTS