During a recent trip to Huddersfield I was reminded of an EAGALA event that took place at Derby Equestrian College where attendees had a snip of advanced training and the use of metaphors during an Equine Assisted Learning exercise. The trip was long and tedious. It was fraught with upsets and I hoped that the workshop scheduled for the following day would go smoothly. I had some idea of what was planned but nothing had really been set in stone.
Staying overnight in a beautiful stone cottage surrounded by
rolling hills, fields and horses was EAH-equine assisted heaven or for me a
haven. Looking out of the bedroom window I saw a large horse nibbling the
fence. When the horse saw my face at the window it stopped momentarily then
carried on gnawing. An equine specialist
seeing a horse crib biting would automatically think of boredom or stress. Through EAGALA’s eyes what did I see?
Frustration - the horse was frantically biting and gnawing, teeth on wood. It
stopped again and looked to the left where a smaller brown pony, eating the
grass, had turned away from the larger one.
It didn’t seem interested in the large one, oblivious to its presence. The
large horse returned to the eating the fence. A few moments passed then it made
its way over to the brown pony. Unhappy with its presence the brown pony
swished its tail and lifted a hind leg as if to warn the horse away. It lifted
its head and turned to look at the horse. With ears pinned back the warning was
clear -‘stay away-I don’t want you in my space’. The large horse stood and
waited, then walked a few paces behind as the little brown pony walked away
still swishing its tail. I wondered what the large horse had done to deserve
being ousted by the little brown pony. Why was the little brown pony being so aggressive
and mean? What had the large horse done to be treated with such contempt?
I continued to watch as the two wandered over to a nearby
gate. The large horse walked alongside the small brown pony its tail still
swishing and ears still pinned back. They turned their heads together nose to
nose. There was no malice or squealing.
There was no fighting but an acceptance of each other, a tolerance
perhaps. It was as if the little brown pony was saying ‘I will share my space
but on my terms only’ and other horse accepted that.
As nature called it was time for a trip to the bathroom.
Another window looked out into a field with more horses. I was starting to enjoy
this trip after all.
Two large cobby type horses stood in the shade of a tree
enjoying the early morning sunshine at their fore legs and hooves. Two
miniature ponies were lying down, their legs and hooves tucked underneath them.
I wondered how something so big could be trusted not to tread on something so
small and not just one horse or pony but two of each of equal size. How did the
miniatures communicate that they wanted to share the same shady spot? How did they make the large cobs aware of the
spot they wished to lie in? I was witnessing the huge amount of mutual respect that
had been established among this little herd.
I started to look forward to the day ahead. I would be
meeting a wide variety of attendees, some therapists and some horsey people. What a coincidence that the agenda for the
day was based on communication and trust. I had not seen the agenda but had already been
pre-informed, not by my co facilitator but by the horses.
Thank Calypso, Cameo, Bobbie and the little mini.
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