Chiron Likes Bon Jovi:
The Birth of Conscious Horsemanship
September has always been my favourite month of the year. It sits like a teeter-totter between summer and autumn, balancing the free days of August with the brimming days of back-to-school. What I didn't know last fall was our paddock would become my classroom - something I can say now only in hindsight - with Chiron as my teacher, guiding me through a lesson I hope once learned never need be repeated.
COLIC. One of those C words we've all grown to fear. My beloved friend had colic. For 4 days and nights it was touch and go. Both Greg and I, and my sister Lisa, were exhausted and so was Chiron.
On the afternoon of the 4th day, I decided to bring out my iPad. I dragged a chair close to where Chiron was standing and resumed the constant vigil - no rolling allowed.
Chiron looked at me with heavy eyes. I ached at not being able to do more for him. I breathed into my body to establish a baseline of connection and felt such anguish in my gut that I wanted to check out but I stayed with it and tried to discern whether this was my stomach ache or his. Then in a flash I understood it belonged to us both and the pieces fell into place! A few days before Chiron started to show discomfort, something terribly gut wrenching had occurred in my life. Being too busy to deal with it I did what every over-functioning human does and shelved it until "I had time."
Chiron was showing me how truly detrimental such a choice could be to my health and well being - and to his. I immediately began to work with my beliefs around the aforementioned trauma, transforming the stress and coming back into balance emotionally and psychologically regarding the triggering event.
Now here is the amazing part... as soon as I GOT the MESSAGES from the condition (anguish in my gut), Chiron relaxed immediately, passed wind that almost blew down a neighbouring tree, then leaned his head over my shoulder, touching his nose to my stomach. He quickly began to fidget and a mischievous glint appeared in his eye (a telltale sign he was feeling better). He touched his nose to my iPad... I must had had my music library open as a song began to play from under Chiron's nose. Bon Jovi. "Thank You for Loving Me."
Hugging his face I thanked him for loving me but having never been one for too much mushiness, he dropped his head to the ground and began to graze - for the first time in 4 days.
*see the above photo taken with said iPad just moments after he began to graze
I continued to sit in gratitude and wonder, listening to the messages in the songs that played on. Every so often Chiron would walk back over, touch his nose to the screen and make a new selection. I made note of each piece and have begun making him his own playlist in thanks for his patient teaching of this lifelong student of the horse.
Thank you for loving me dear friend,
Sandra
*The blog above was written March 2013 and appeared in The Spring 2013 Have You Herd Newsletter. I've included it again here as it ties in with the Make Room For Grace blog on July 4, 2017.