Despite the hiccups along the way, I was noticing a change….. Ducati had become more ‘alive’ – there was a softness to him – his eye had relaxed…
I imagined that he and most of the other horses in the world had lived a life of second guessing what their owners wanted. Finally he was presented with a language he could understand. “Oh! You want me to step back! Easy! AND I get a treat!” “Would you like me to stand still? Ok! And thankyou very much for my treat!”
We had become polite around each other. It reminded me of the scene in the movie Babe where the pig talks so nicely to the sheep and asks them if they would go through the gate!
I thought about what it would be like to be a horse. To never understand what the owner wanted – it would be like living in a foreign country with people shouting and poking at you and you live in a constant state of confusion. I imagine we would shut down – We would display all the signs of learned helplessness – just like horses and many other animal do.
What I noticed was that Ducati was becoming more ‘human’. I was starting to see a true personality – one I had never seen – even though we of course had had many conversations through my animal communications. What I was seeing was the physical change. It wasn’t about the treats – Ducati was enjoying solving the puzzles I was presenting to him. His eyes had a glow about them – an excitement…..
It was like we were on more equal footing – we were truly playing games together.
The ‘vibe’ was different. Everything felt more lighthearted. It was like we were all laughing!
The other three horses were also getting a short turn – but there would be much to sort out with Magnum….. At that time I just did what I could. There were other concerns, nothing to do with the horses.
My mother was having health problems. I was concerned her doctor wasn’t treating her leg infection in the right way. My daughter, Emma – who was by then a theatre nurse said she would take a look at her leg on her way home. She took one look, bundled her into the car, and took her to the hospital, where she ended up spending a week on antibiotics.
At the same time my sister Ros was visiting from UK. We spent lots of time at the hospital, and also at Mum’s unit – to clean it up and make it nice for her when she came out of hospital. We soon realised that she was not coping as well as she had made out. We cleaned and sorted, and decided to put in place some legal safeguards. We talked her into letting me assist with her finances, bill paying etc. etc. She had always been very proud – but it was obvious she was struggling.
My focus was off the horse work…. but it was never far from my mind… I watched the DVDs when I could – and always tried to have some clicker moments with the horses ….. but I was worried….. mainly about my mother – but also about Magnum……..
COMING UP – MAGNUM – MY TEACHER
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS STORY, PLEASE START AT THE BEGINNING HERE – Part 1 – An Introduction
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