Part 121 – You Rescue Me, I Rescue You

The hoof trimming changed everything – in both of us.  We paralleled.  Our confidence grew – and our fixed attitudes towards life changed.

For Magnum, the hoof trimming process transferred to other areas.  He was happy to be touched everywhere!  As I said in the previous post – sprays, which previously he had run away from, suddenly were okay – I could spray his hooves, legs and body.

If anyone visited, he came forward more – particularly for quiet people.  He was realising not all humans were quite so bad as the ones who had traumatised him in his early life.  The spooking decreased to almost none!  However, there were still some times when he was tense – and I was forever vigilant!

For me, the hoof trimming project provided a real breakthrough in my mindset. If you have not read previous posts, I talk here Part 108 – Getting Up Again….about what my sisters and I were told throughout our childhood and even into adulthood. From that blog …..“As teens we were told we just weren’t very important – others knew better – in fact we were doomed to have ‘bad luck’ …because that was our lot in life….  We were told to just ‘do the right thing’ and listen to the authorities – as they know best!! “

For all the achievements  in my life, it was trimming Magnum’s hooves that gave me that breakthrough.  Even though before this, I could rationalise that of course I was as important as everyone else – this was the first time I truly felt it. Before that, even though I had achieved things through areas such as  work, study, raising children, starting community groups etc…  I was truly viewing things differently.

If I form an image of how I felt, it was like the ‘not good enough, listen to others, what would you know, we have bad luck etc.’ had been a giant thought bubble that dominated my brain.  Suddenly it had popped and disintegrated.  I could see how my worldview should have looked – I was on an equal footing with everyone else.  I was capable!!!

I smiled a lot!  But I also shook my head in a mix of anger and sadness for the lie I had been fed – a lie that had cemented itself in my head from a young age – and a lie that can sometimes resurface because of conditioning – a bit like Magnum’s spooking.

Hoof Mountain had certainly been a journey in more ways than just trimming the hooves.  Hoof Mountain finally provided the path to both mine and Magnum’s healing.

If you go back to this post Part 13 – Magnum Talks  you will see the lyrics to the song Frozen Orange Juice.  This is what Magnum wanted to hear all those years ago.  The lyrics were significant.  We had truly rescued each other in ways we never thought possible.

On reflection – people can say to you “don’t think that way – be more positive – change your thoughts – you ARE good enough” or any other number of exercises to change your thinking.  I learnt about cognitive behaviour therapy when I was studying for my social science degree.  I knew there were all sorts of methods for this.

But here was a traumatised horse from the wilds (or the trees as he had once told me) and it was the process and challenge of trimming his hooves that cleared that nasty thought bubble and let me see my place in the world as it should be.

I hope it helped him as much – it seemed to – he seemed prouder with those newly shaped hooves – and well as being more confident.

COMING UP – SIXTEEN HOOVES!

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

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