"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart."
- Helen Keller
The Kandy's Clone video (above-right) is a Standardbred horse who harness races. You can see how showy and puffed-up she is in this video, appearing as quite the competitor.
Even so, she displayed a very intricate and sensitive emotional inner world. She was highly possessive of me upon our first greeting. Possessive to the point she would not tolerate other admires to approach us by her stall. She would mock attempts at nipping them while quipping a sharp neigh, thereby scaring them away.
And, while this horse was being highly in-tuned/affectionate with me, I experienced powerful sensations. First, it felt like a grapefruit sized ball of light had formed in the center of my chest. No longer was there room for sensations that anxiety or worry produce as they were pushed out by this greater energy of peace.
Instead, levity was sensed. Body pains became no longer noticeable as they were eclipsed by a feeling of lightness. Then, the energy that the ball of light emanated began to course from my chest and inch outward in all directions. Eventually, my hips became loosened and light. It felt like nerves and nerve endings where being regenerated throughout my body from a four-legged fountain of youth.
The experience could be classified as the rapid development of a very deep and palpable bond. This bond can even manifest within those: who have lost all trust (his or her "trust muscle" has atrophied); who have never truly bonded with a single soul, particularly during the formative years; who believe that he or she is not worthy of love or respect.
Moreover, even though prior to this experience I was sold on Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, this experience - as unexpected as it was - took the commitment to this modality to a whole other level. Powerful healing of a visceral-spiritual nature is very real by way of the horse.
Mom Friesian watching-over baby:
Friesian Babies connecting with nature for the first time:
Mom Friesian imprinting baby:
Confident (newly arrived) Friesian horse disrupting social order with her boldness:
The above video is found to be hysterical. She comes into the new barn and within her second pass in-front of the other horses she shows a high head position (dominance) and is prancing. She is licking her lips, which means she is curious and likes this new place so far.
She seems to appoint a 2nd in charge with the first horse most near the entrance just before the 5:00 minute mark. She then completely snubs the middle two horses which appears to be infuriating to them, especially coming from an "intruder".
Now, it's back to absolutely schooling the weak-sauce mouthy stud in the last stall. Even though she mostly ignores him, she swishes her tail in front of his as she walks by as a subtle sign of dominance, provocation, and disrespect. She has a look-see with possible new roommates in the sheep as she gets a lay of the land - she presents as the owner of the barn!
Then, back to reaffirming her superior position, as well as alliance with her new second in-charge in the horse near the entrance. She then again reaffirms that the two middle horses aren't yet worthy of her recognition in the least within this newly forming social order which she is orchestrating.
She then decides to give the stud a modicum of respect from behind the metal bars. He fails to act correctly, so she ices him by turning her head away while holding it in-place higher than his. Her repeated dismissal of him is her way of educating him as to his standing with her, seemingly to include her expectations of civility.
She isn't necessarily a troublemaker, or snob, this is just her character within the herd mentality. She did the quick math - as well as nearly immediately conditioning the other horses(!) - regarding this pre-existing social order and seemed to ordain herself as the new Sherriff in town.
This horse gathered vast amounts of intuitive information in a short period of time. Then, again in a seemingly intuitive manner, began establishing and communicating strict boundaries within this four-horse unit. She appears exceedingly intelligent, and most definitely an alpha leader who is certain of her own high-worth and value. Gladly, she didn't seem to show any signs of dominance with humans.
It would be quite interesting to see how this story played-out once they all were all safely and physically integrated without the confines of any stalls - such as out in the field. Incidentally, a Friesian horse such as her may command tens of thousands of dollars.
Here is a counselor and two coworkers at the farm taking a much needed break from the day's hecticness.
