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| A Collection of Mindful Connections |
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| Animals have been a big part of my personal and with that my emotional and spiritual evolution. Over the years I have written a variety of short stories capturing the animals that touched my life and the lives of my clients. |
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| Some of the stories have been published in my monthly column in the Pet Gazette (distributed on the South Shore), others are fairly personal and will be shared on the Birchwood Farm website for the first time. I hope you enjoy the stories and feel inspired to look at your, and/or any animal that crosses your way as an opportunity to create a ‘Mindful Connection’. |
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Expressing Love |
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An amazing interaction occurred during a “Life Changing Horse Experience” workshop at Birchwood Farm. The four participants (three women, one man) had completed a group activity and were already well into their individual 1:1 sessions with a horse. When it was time for David to step into the ring he said: ”We will make this short”. I explained that while we were running a couple of minutes late, there was no need to rush and compromise his session. Furthermore, I thought to myself, my experience is that humans are usually not in charge of time during sessions…the horses are. |
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(click here to read the full story) |
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The Big Bay |
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It was a cold, misty day at the farm, it was Susan’s first time meeting the herd. |
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We had completed the initial conversation and paperwork when I asked her to visit with the horses and see if any sensations, thoughts or emotions would come up for her. |
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After standing with the big bay for a while she commented that her throat felt itchy. She put her hand around the front of her neck and repeated that it felt different, somewhat scratchy. |
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(click here to read the full story) |
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Faith |
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I recently participated in a personal growth workshop in Pennsylvania that incorporated horses. As a facilitator in the field myself, I believe in continuing my personal growth work as a client. As the saying goes: “Every teacher needs a teacher”. For me there are no better teachers than animals. |
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During one of the activities we had to check in with each of the eleven horses to see if one would like to hang out with us and vice versa. After saying hello to the first five horses I landed in front of Faith’s stall. Faith had a rough start in life as she was found by her current owner Amy one dark night at the side of the road being beaten by a guy who was trying to get her into a horse trailer. Amy had stopped her truck and trailer and asked the guy how much he wanted for the horse. For $650 the horse became Amy’s and with that Faith’ life at a horse sanctuary began. |
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(click here to read the full story) |
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Jail Break |
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One dark night…around 10pm…I was getting ready to give our horse their last feeding for the day. I had left Okie’s stall door open so he could wander into the aisle to visit with the others on this rainy day. For extra safety, we have installed brackets that hold boards across the front and back door opening of the barn which were in place when I left the barn around 6pm. Now looking at the barn I felt twinges of discomfort…where were the boards??? I called to my husband “John, we might have a lose horse” while I hoped that Okie had only ventured out to graze and thus would be found on the lawn. Nevertheless I wondered how the boards came down, Okie would usually not be that daring. When I walked over to the barn I realized that one of the other stall doors was open as well. Oh no, that meant we are not just missing one but two horses. |
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(click here to read the full story) |
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Who is walking whom? |
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I often take our dog, Amber, to a small local park where she gets to exercise and sniff her little heart out. |
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On a recent outing I watched another person walking their dog which led me to this observation: We truly ‘walk the dog’. |
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When in theory we tell ourselves that we are ‘taking the dog for a walk’, the reality shows that we are rather directive in how we want the dog to have fun. Visualize this, the owner holds the dog on a leash and walks at a certain pace through the park. The dog decides to sniff a shrub, the owner stops and after a couple of short moments encourages the dog to move on. |
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(click here to read the full story) |
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Young Spirit |
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We recently added a young spirit to our herd, a one year old Arabian filly. Cute as a button and a joy to handle. Having just lost the last horse of our ‘old stock’ |
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this young spirit sure changed the energy around the barn. |
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Upon getting to know Shana more I noticed how intact and unblemished her spirit is. Barbara in NY, the woman that foaled and raised the filly, had done a terrific job to let the baby grow up without concern or worry. Now in my care, I realized how important it is for me to help her continue on the path of confidence and well being. |
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(click here to read the full story) |
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Cookie - the Huntress |
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We were in the midst of building our barn to finally bring our horses’ home. I was truly looking forward to the new life ahead of me. Except for one thing…horses at home means storing hay and grain. That in my mind equals rodents. I decided we needed a cat. Since I had never cared for a cat, I realized I was in for a new experience. |
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Serendipitously, at the pet food store I met a woman that happened to have a cat available for farm duty…a perfect match. |
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Upon arrival Cookie stayed locked in the barn for a while to get her used to her new home. Since I was not very experienced in handling cats Cookie and started to bond slowly over those weeks. I would pet her gently from her head towards her tail, when my hand was around her hip she would turn around and hiss at me…I read that as “I didn’t like that”. |
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(click here to read the full story) |
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