I’m feeling inspired to share a conversation I had today with a horse friend of mine, Quinn. He was an upper level dressage horse, formerly amish horse, and now he’s living out his days retired and speaking on behalf of the horses at the farm.
The conversation started out per usual, where he’s showing me around his barn and talking about what he does during the day, the other horses, and what’s for dinner.
He showed me this cheeky little chestnut horse, and said he chooses to appreciate this horse because he’s got a feral personality and strong opinions. He then showed me the horse on the other side of him, a dark bay mare, who he also likes for the same reasons. Everyone on the other end of the line was laughing because of the truth in his words.
He talked about his bridle, and how it’s important to him, that he misses using it. “That’s the only piece of his equipment I kept,” his person said. He knows it.
He talked about a little girl with brown hair who wears expressive clothing that doesn’t always match. “That’s my daughter! One person said, she dresses like she’s out of an 80’s magazine.” Quinn digs her energy, man!
Then he went on to talk about his body, his appreciation for the tuning fork she uses, and a few other things before he brought up a few things that reminded me, WOW horses really do listen and feel what we are saying when we are around them.
Quinn mentioned body clipping and said he doesn’t want to be clipped this year… in fact he said, “I’ve paid my dues with the clippers.” haha! His person then told me they’d been talking about clipping his legs recently. What’s more is that he brought his little chestnut friend into his protective bubble and told me he didn’t want that horse being clipped either. “Oh my gosh! That horse is very sensitive and thin skinned,” they said. Quinn’s got his back.
Then he went on to talk about a gray horse, in a lower smaller barn at the bottom of the property. “Yes there’s a gray horse there.” A flea bitten almost white horse? “Yes.” Quinn said that he’s worried because that horse has a lot of overall body inflammation and he also is showing me my symbol for the west nile vaccine, and that he should not get vaccinations at this time, is he getting vaccinated soon? “Yes, we were actually just talking about that the other day, he’s supposed to be getting vaccinated next week.” Quinn warned them that this is not the right decision for this horse at this time.
I’m sharing this conversation because with each day I am more amazed at how in tune horses are to the visualizations and images that flow through our subconscious as we are talking in front of them. They feel everything! Some horses, like Quinn, feel the need to advocate for their herd mates.
Next time you’re talking in front of your horse, know that they’re listening.
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