What is meaningful to you? What brings you JOY? Here are some ponderings to inspire YOUR spirit

Ponderings….

  • Ranch Landing

    Before leaving for Casari Ranch this morning, I dress in multilayers. As much as I love being outside spending time with the horses in their pasture as one of the herd. I don’t have hair all over my body to keep me warm and it’s 35 degrees out.

    The name, Casari, is a blend of Casey’s and Ariana’s first name. Ariana, a dear friend, and mentor is one who wears many hats. She is the gold standard in the Horses as Healer field, an earth shaman wild woman, and general force of nature. Casey is her husband, kind, subtly funny and, always, always wearing a baseball hat, even at repose, with a little pouch of tobacco tucked away under his bottom lip. We have this thing about my missing items. “Looking for this?” he asks holding out a hat, a water bottle, a jacket, a packet of tea, you name it. I’ve left it!

    Casari Ranch is on its 4th incarnation, moving from Valley Ford to Point Arena in 2015, back to Bodega in 2018, and finally Sebastopol in 2021. Each so different, so much beauty in every manifestation, so much creative energy to make them home.

    I prefer to take the slower route via the streets outside the towns of Sonoma County, but I’m running borderline late. The freeway is faster but still quite scenic. We’re having what I would call a normal early spring, with enough rain to green-up the hills and the early budding trees like willows and acacia are leafing out. As I ease into light traffic, I shift into cruise control and concentrate on remaining present at the wheel while enjoying the drive, which has become a ritual in itself.

    This never gets old. I pull onto the access road. The gate is open. I’m inching my way past the house as a cacophony of critters meets me. I grin, gently opening my car door even before I park in front of the guest house:

    “Hey, Bitty, I guess Ariana must be around. Billy, Johnny, Buddy, Rocco, quit howling like I’m a stranger, you puppies act like you’ve never seen me before. Awww, Brookie, I forgot your treats again. Shoot! The soft spot of my heart opens a little more for the kitty with a crooked tail. Hello Chickens. Man, you all make a mess. I look forward to the chore/privilege of sweeping up again.

    I yank on my rubber boots and as I walk from my car to the barn, I begin to open my senses full tilt. I once again, welcome the connection with my wise, intuitive animal body. One of the most cherished aspects of my involvement with SkyHorse EGE; is our rescue horses. My rescue horse Penny lives here. As I prepare to greet her, I begine to shed my accumulated defenses that have piled up from being back ‘in town’. Grateful that I feel safe enough here to do that.

  • Horse Time

    The green of the grass sparkles with dew, all jade and emerald, bits of sunlight in every direction.

    Grandmother tree, downed in our last atmospheric river’s windstorm, is now chainsawn into huge pieces pushed completely off the driveway, but still powerful in her presence.

    A cold wind blows against my face, so I pull my hat down tighter around my head and wind my scarf over my nose. The horses, dogs, cats, donkeys, sheep, goats, chickens are all calling.

    They know I’m here, my car and voice grown familiar over time. In the distance, I see Penny, along with her other herd members, cavorting in the field, already stirred up by the energetic shifts in the air.

    I look up, curious about the sound and movement around me, birds everywhere, circling, hopping, calling, frogs deliriously active. I could go on.

    A few minutes later, I check the time as and look up as our farrier, or hoof care specialist, Rob, drives in, hauling his utility trailer behind him, exactly at 9. Exactly on time. Unusual for a farrier, but that’s his way.

    From my 14 years as a horse steward, my previous farriers, were rarely on time. Farriers operate in Horsetime.

    This is one important more than a concept I’ve absorbed as a student of the horse. A quote from Ariana:

    “Horse time is a valuable metaphor to remember when practicing horsemanship in general and especially in EGE. Horse time is generally a slower pace as in a quarter of the time we, humans, usually take to respond. Remember it doesn’t mean necessarily moving at a quarter of your usual pace or sense of time, it has more to do with slowing down your appreciation of your senses. Specifically it means slowing down your minds’ interpretation of what is happening, and what assessments you are forming. It means listening to the body--yours, others and the horse. It means letting your other senses of sight, smell, tactile, intuitive, kinesthetic and anything non-linear come alive and have the space of time to actually SENSE.”

    Farriers, from my experience, can be both opinionated and fascinating at the same time. They hold one of the most important keys to your horse’s health, their feet, or toes to be exact. So their time deserves respect.

    Jessica, my first farrier back in 2010, was a self-proclaimed Libertarian. I regularly listened to anti-government rants about its violation of freedom of just about anything. I kept her coming until one day and said she was moving to Canada. And that was that.

    She explained to me about barefoot hoof care:

    A horse’s hooves have been designed by nature to function optimally when barefoot. Properly trimmed barefoot hooves allow the hoof to flex. The horse depends on this flexing of the hoof for circulation and thus health. It provides the opportunity to develop strong and healthy foundations beneath a horse, which leads to better long-term soundness.

    I was sold, and have had them unshod ever since!.

  • Empath Energy

    We, as humans, tend to communicate through words. Horses, and other animals, (and some gifted humans), think and communicate in pictures, and, according to Temple Grandin, through memories of smell, light, and sound patterns.

    I ‘ve been trying to figure out my ability to feel and connect into the environment around me all my life it seems. Maybe you can relate?

    I’ve always know it’s there. Choosing a teacher to help me understand my empathic nature, sensitivities and aspirations to bond with the animal world took a great deal of experimentation.

    When I look back, I realize I haven’t always chosen the best teachers for my needs. One in particular, had tantrums and publicly humiliated me in front of the class when I didn’t spend enough money (I had already spent thousands) on her classes or didn’t honor what she deemed were my commitments. A time consuming and expensive experiment.

    The Pandemic changed everything.

    I was mending from a tib/fib break which ironically occurred in my backyard during its first public days. Yikes. What a wakeup call.

    A shout out to the Shift Network, which provides summits and courses for people to learn about things like Ancestral Healing, Plant Medicine, Intuitive Healing Arts and so much more.

    During the lockdown, I found they had such courses and summits all on-line. I could prop up my leg or sit in my wheelchair spellbound, distracted from the throbbing in my leg, my mind completely occupied listening to speakers. Gifted empaths and, people with unique sensitivities, just like me.

    I choose a summit about what it is to be empathic and highly sensitive, and I found a coach to help me connect with our world without being overwhelmed by constant pain.

    Through many hopeful pokes at the computer keyboard and traveling down the road of Zoom, I also reconnected with Ariana by enrolling in a virtual 5-day Horses Healing Humans Retreat.

    In EGE (Equine Guided Education) we talk a lot about energy. Everything is energy.

    Def: “The strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity. It’s something we can’t see with our eyes, but we can feel it if we are attuned, and we can see its effects.”

    I’ve learned how to better convey my intentions to the herd, and more specifically to Penny.

    Penny (my rescue pony) is a love of my life, a 7 year old chestnut red on the larger size pony, with the cutest snip that runs down her forehead from just above her eyes to the bottom of her nose. (You can read about her story under the PLAY tab)

    We bonded as we worked through her traumas. I-don’t-know how long she was crammed together with I-don’t-know how many horses in a Texas kill-pen. She was added to the horse trailer just before it headed to California, not an afterthought, but an act of sheer intuition.

    Now, when I arrive at the ranch, Penny is waiting for me at the far end and walks with me along the fence line. I feel her inquire ‘What is the quality or tone of my energy today’

    She remains curious as I pause long enough to centre myself, scan my body for information and show up fully, for what brings me JOY.