Many of us know about lost pieces of ourselves, the shattered dreams, abandoned joy, betrayal, lost opportunities and broken hearts. We also know that we pick up the pieces and go forward, sometimes with great resilience, sometimes with feigned courage while inwardly we are hollow. We may carry great sadness, or we are desperate for someone to see us and lend compassion to help us recover the lost pieces that make us whole.
What about our Horse? Do Horses suffer from lost pieces? Because they are herd animals by nature they are inter-relative with an innate ability for complex interaction and because they are sentient Beings, I believe they do. Perhaps they suffer from harsh training, and they react by overcompliance, or they become hardened and resistant and thus lose the piece of themselves that longed for connection and cooperation. Maybe they become unpredictable or erratic because they fear punishment at any given moment, even if none is intended. Or the Horse that is ignored and dismissed, has it lost faith that it will ever be seen as an individual? Has it abandoned hope that will it ever find its partner? These are lost pieces, lost dreams.
But, were they lost or were they stolen? Sometimes life is difficult, and we become disillusioned and abandon our dreams, they get lost because we are overwhelmed by our circumstances. Other times, especially when we are young, we may be in an environment that robs us of those dreams, and some innocence cannot be recovered.
The same for Horses. As Human, we have access to information on self-help, self-growth and therapy to help us recover and heal some of the damage. How does a Horse recover and heal? Of course, time is a quick answer and that carries great truth with it. But how can we as Human offer healing and recovery to a Horse that has been damaged and lost parts of its ‘whole’ self?
Perhaps we do not look at it as ‘fixing’ the Horse. Extreme abuse to a Horse may cause irreparable damage, but for the others, maybe the answer lies in allowing it to remember and recover the pieces that are lost. Let them slowly become what they were when they were whole. One possibility is that we accept them completely, right now where they are, and not focus on the fixing? Can we hold peace for them when they are fearful, not try to stop the fear, but simply stay in a place of safety and peace as a familiar place for them to return to and rely on?
How do we prove to them that we are supportive of their situation but ok with where they are right now? When we tune in to the Soul of the Horse, we lay aside our Human expectations, our desire to fix things, our compulsion to make things ‘right’ according to our observation. What if the Horse is not needing to be fixed and needs to be heard? Felt? Understood? Held? Allowed to express the loss, the confusion or the resentment?
This will not happen with ‘fixing’, but great things can happen when Souls unite to find common ground. When Soulful interaction is embraced over the language of words and rational thinking… deep change can take place. Things that were lost can be found. Forgotten dreams will rise from the darkness and recovery begins.
The Invitation
If your Horse repeatedly reacts in ways contrary to what you request, make an effort to discern if this is a training matter, or is it a learned or defensive measure in reaction to lost trust or harsh demands. Can you safely lay this request aside for a time while you connect on a Soul level with your Horse in effort to allow the root of this issue to find a safe place to be understood and released? Committing to the common ground of Soulful connection eliminates the pressure towards the Horse to be fixed, and it will relive the Human from the responsibility of doing the fixing. Suddenly there is no blame, no focus on the concern, only possibility.
Delaya Diana © 2020