I have been pondering how to implement concepts presented in Sacred Spaces (SS). When and with whom. Before I even began reading the book, I started tuning in. I knew the general concept from reading Linda's blog.
Pausing before haltering. Cracking open stalls, and waiting to see if anyone wanted to interact with me. Observing. Sending thoughts. Waiting. Sometimes using words. Nothing felt different to me, but it felt good.
Some responses I got from our horses were humorous. Specifically Nemo's. He is our most sensitive horse. I've had non-horse people tell me when Nemo looks at you it is like talking to a person. Yep, that is 100% Nemo.
I smiled when he looked at me with his expressive eyes and "said" What are you doing? Not now. Can't you see I am eating. Not good timing on my part, but chore time is when I interact the most with our horses.
Koda on the other hand left his hay to interact with me. More than once. Jaw drop. My poor boy is starved for anything in addition to his 3X a day stall service/jail release. Koda plays his Get Out of Jail Card whenever he can. Most days he has become lovey-dovey with everyone. Other days he oozes like a time bomb looking for something to set him off. For the most part, Koda is doing well while healing. Better than we thought he would. 3 long months into a year sentence, we are hopeful for his recovery.
Hope and Cierra are almost always game for human interaction. Most days, Harmony could care less. When she does choose to interact, it is sweet.
What is very different with SS are the focus steps. Broken down questions/exercises to help achieve focused imagery. Key word focused. Hard for a busy mind.
After reading a few more chapters, I tried simple imagery with Ms. Hope. From inside the house. In my mind it went something like: walking down to the gate, haltering (without shenanigans) and walking back into the barn. Tucking Hope into her stall and ending with some love pats. Well, it didn't happen as planned. Brad ended up with Hope. Not his fault. I could have declared I was getting Hope. This wasn't really a fair experiment anyways. Hope typically does all the things I imagined well with me. A better test would be imaging walking into her stall to scoop a freshly gifted pile, without ear pinning dislike. However, I am not there yet and neither is Hope.
I will continue loosely trying concepts learned from Chapter 4 "Imagine that..." and Chapter 5 "Clear the Air (waves) Intentions and Pre-Cues" in some way or another. I can't go all in right now, my mind and heart are elsewhere. Focus and attention have unexpectedly shifted.
The great thing about SS is how the information and exercises are organized. The author makes it very easy to revisit concepts and find sectioned advice for help/practice.
We are on the brink of warming up to high temp's around freezing. This past weekend, 22F and sunny felt like a Spring day. If only Mother Nature would turn down the fan.
Our horses just went back on full day turn out. Perhaps now I can work up to getting back in the saddle. Pent up horses is not a good place to start. That would give me additional chances to work with SS mindfulness. Meanwhile, I will read the second half of the book.
I will close with saying both SS Chapter 4 & 5 were very interesting. I mean, who doesn't want to play Make Believe ~ where there are no rules, just imagination.
Tank balancing Cierra on his nose
1.31.26
1 comment:
I haven’t reread 4 and 5, so I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting them through your experience. I’ve listened to so many podcast interviews of her now, I’m starting to blur what she says on them with what is in the book. Her second book is about to be published, and it’s more about this mental imagery.
In the podcasts, she says learning to make mental pictures can be difficult, but it comes with practice. I’m like you, it isn’t coming easy. I’m finding that my mind doesn’t want to quiet down. It’s so hard for me to be present at this level, especially with all the chaos in our wider world, and the day to day stuff. But I guess it’s a blessing in disguise to escape it for a while and fully submerse into our horse’s energy.
That’s so interesting about Koda’s response. He has a long way to go in his recovery still, and he seems to be eager for the kind of connection / communion you’re exploring. Actually, it sounds like all of them are, but he is probably a little more desperate. When a horse’s fate isn’t known, it can take your heart through a wringer. Dare I hope? And also the helplessness of it.
I’m looking forward to more of your horsey interactions as you incorporate all this. It helps me to see someone else doing it, too.
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