Visitors

Friends came to visit last week and get some "horse time" with Majic. He loves people and people love him.

Natural Horse

The Healing Herbal Teas article and the Herbal Profile section are by Katharine in this issue of Natural Horse Magazine. She will have another article and profile in the upcoming issue. You can read these and other articles by Katharine on the Articles page of the Dharmahorse.com site.

We met a true, for real Angel

Last night Jerry and I were returning home around 10:30 from supper and music with friends. It had been a long day - in the morning, the geldings had been turned out and Rafiki kept galloping up and into the pen Jer was mucking. I led him back down past the tack room and changed the electric fence tape to keep him (and Majic) at the lower part of the turn out. Rafiki took off around the yuccas and galloped full tilt at the fence that had not been across there 2 minutes earlier. I yelled "Whoa, Rafiki, FENCE!" and he dropped his head, saw it and JUMPED it (thank goodness), catching the tape with just the toe of a hind hoof which made it disconnect from the insulator... Whew!
Then, Jer and I were taking out the stall divider in the horse trailer so Sunshine would not get caught under it when Sunshine rolled under the fence on his turn out and ended up loose (but still within our perimeter fence) and galloping! I caught Rafiki and held him - he was very excited about the teeny weeny horse zooming all over the place. Jer got Sunshine's halter and tried to catch him as he ran from pen to pen, in front of Susie then Majic (who chased him), into the front yard and back to the pens. I finally got Rafiki put away, then Majic, we caught SShine and checked him for injuries. He was fine and proud of himself.
So we prepared for the trip to town taking Sunshine to the animal blessing (which went splendidly!) and when we returned, did all our chores in record time and left for the pub where we met our friends (I forgot to change boots - manure is a very organic kind of aromatherapy, right?).
As we drove home in the pitch dark on the long straight stretch of Holman Rd., I saw a truck with flashers on the left side of the road and just caught a glimpse of a woman squatting on the right side with a little flashlight. I turned the car around, drove back and asked her through the window if she was okay. "Yes" she said and I saw a tiny dog on the shoulder in front of her. She had seen the dog on the side of the road and stopped - the dog was breathing but bleeding from the mouth. She had called animal control and they were coming...
I brought the car around to her side of the road, put on my flashers as Jer ran to her side and starting doing Reiki treatment on the white dog. I joined them, put my hands on the dog and we kept telling the tiny being that he/she was loved. Over and over, the three of us told the dog how beloved it was. This young woman had stopped, by herself and sat with this dog she did not know in the cold dark on a relatively dangerous place in the road. I hugged her.
I got a sweater from my car and covered the dog. He/she raised up several times and looked right into our eyes. We kept telling her how much she was loved. The animal control truck arrived and a sheriff. The AC fellow was kind and grabbed a towel, we gently rolled the doggie onto the towel, I supported the head and brought the sweater... we put the dog into a safe compartment of the truck and the guy said he would call the Veterinarian to meet him at the shelter.
The 3 of stood, a bit stunned for a moment. I hugged the girl, told her how wonderful she was and we all drove off our separate ways. Today, Jer has left messages hoping to find out about the little dog. My heart tells me that, even if he/she died last night - she KNEW she was loved.
Jer and I met an angel last night. I could not even describe that young woman, it was so dark... but I "saw" the spirit of a real angel and will never forget her.

Continued....

I lived in the tiny travel trailer while working for the therapy program and all seemed secure. I slept over the "5th wheel" part that was a funky bed with no head room! Things had gone okay... I did actually break 3 ribs when Darjeeling was spooked in the slant load trailer and the partition hit me (just as we loaded to move!), so I was healing from that & still working when the first rain came one night. I was half asleep, listening to the patter of drops directly overhead, smelling that wonderful suppressed dust smell from the first rains when I realized I was wet. Sh*t. The trailer leaked! And - right over the bed.

The next morning my brother bought a huge tarp and tied it properly over the trailer. I took bedding to the laundromat and used my blow dryer to dry the foam mattresses. There were still clients to see, horses to feed, pens to muck, etc., so I stayed really busy!

Showers were interesting - the shower/toilet/sink were all one in the "bathroom" and the shower water line was a tube from the sink. Friends had gotten the water heater working a few days after I moved in... the water pump pulsed, so my showers were quite rhythmic! And, the hot water and cold kinda alternated... I would gasp when it went to cold and sort of scream softly when it went to hot.

I felt like what I was doing was important. A friend said that she would never put up with such a life. I sometimes felt really lonely and sometimes felt like I was loved and appreciated deeply. Each day was unique. I took total care and financial responsibility for my horses and myself. I fell asleep exhausted most nights, woke up hopeful most mornings. I LIVED with my horses. I knew how they felt and what they faced and we could all always see each other across the yard and they KNEW that I lived the same life they did. We all loved and understood each other.

Aid and Comfort

Caring about horses and people comes easily to me. For 2 and a half years my horses and I worked for an Equine Assisted Therapy program and we all lived on site. I moved my 4 horses there and my friend, Dave built the now "famous" roof with diagonal walls to cover 4 horses with corral panel pens attached. It was quick to do; then we made a round pen for sessions and "turn out"... it was very small.
Another friend loaned me his camping trailer to live in and my horses and I set up to keep the program going while the owners had a shed barn built beside the temporary pens. I had no television (only PBS now - not a fan of regular TV); the trailer was too small for my dogs to live with me (they lived at my Mom's those first few months); I had to get the propane bottles filled in town; hauled my own "black water" across the (large) property to the septic tank to dump it (at least once a week - but it's amazing how conservative you get!) using a special blue container made for the purpose that hooked onto my Jeep! and, I kept feed and tack in my one horse trailer - hay on pallets under a tarp.
My "Dharma horses" were amazing - Gita was the Arab gelding that had been orphaned at birth. Darjeeling was his young cousin. Dorje was an Anglo Arab of maturity who was rock solid emotionally and Sandalwood was a foundered TWH mare that had belonged to a friend and I was working to help and heal her. We all worked in the program with youth "at risk", women's programs, foster care systems, etc. The horses touched my soul daily with how perceptive and appropriate they were in situations from one end of the spectrum to the other!
I thought of it all as a great experience for a Buddhist. I would meditate every night, was super aware of my own impact on the Earth, found simple solutions to problems and helped others constantly every day (and often into the nights!). Even though the horses and I "burned out" eventually; we were strong and proud of what we were doing.
Sandy finally needed to be released (euthanized) and I stood beside her proudly honoring the great mare as she passed. Dalai came to us, another TWH mare! And she stood stock still one night, in the dark with portable flood lights, in the cold while a dozen women took turns mounting her to walk a circle with me leading her... giving a new experience and courage/accomplishment to some precious humans. Horses are amazing!