Tag horse health

An itch, a scratch and a real doorbuster

Nancy Crowe Leave a comment

This is Tuff, a 23-year-old quarter horse I work with regularly in my animal communication and Let Animals Lead® practice. He’d been scratching his itchy back end against his metal stall door, popping the door loose at least once.

Please scratch on the post instead, his carers requested. I passed that along and got only a sigh, but for the next month or so I didn’t hear about any more door busting from the humans.   

One day I was at the other end of the barn and heard a rattling thunk, thunk, thunk. All I could see was Tuff’s door bending into the aisle with each scratch.

I hurried over and asked Tuff to stop. He did, then proceeded to take a very splashy drink of water. (You know you’re in the right line of work when getting dribbled on by a huge mammal makes you laugh.)

Tuff’s itch was treated and a staff member put a butt-high brush in his stall for those inevitable scratching needs. He was reportedly doing better about leaving his door alone. Then what did he do the next time I stood outside his stall? I’ll tell you what I did – I stepped out of the way of the stall door bending into the aisle.

Maybe that was Tuff’s way of telling me to cut the conversation and get on with the calming meditation. Next time I’ll try that. Or I may have to explain to him why he has something worthy of a medieval Scottish castle in place of his stall door. Stay tuned.

(Photo by Nancy Crowe)

There is power in pulling together

Nancy Crowe
Kat, Cyndi, Lucky and Randy

Four Camp Red Cedar therapy horses were to be on hand for Boots & Bourbon, the camp’s major fundraiser. It would be a different environment from their barn and pasture, with lots of people and a live band. Theresa, the barn manager, was a bit concerned about how first-timer Lucky (the black and white Gypsy Drum Horse with Randy above) would handle it, but she was willing to give it a go. As it turned out, so was Lucky.

I communicated with each of the horses on the afternoon of the event, making sure they knew what to expect and knew their human handlers had their backs. Lucky was on board but asked that if he started fidgeting and shifting side to side, he needed to be done for the evening. Kat, the Gypsy-Percheron cross with Cyndi above; and Jake, the black Tennessee Walker on the left below with Dava; agreed too. So did Tuff, on the right below with Emily; but he asked if he could then have a day off. I promised to pass all of that along.

Then we shared a Let Animals Lead® meditation to help everyone handle their tasks and meet their supporters in a calm, refreshed state. I offered the Three Diamonds meditation I’d just learned, which brings light to and shares it from three energy centers: the hara or lower belly (groundedness), heart (relatedness) and mind (clear thought and heavenly energy). I was actually taught this with totem animals for each energy center (bear, eagle and tiger). How would bear or tiger energy go over with horses, I wondered? So I meditated on those three aspects of horse energy instead … what makes horses so good at grounding and connecting.

During the evening, I had a chance to offer some in-person encouragement. Lucky had a few anxious moments, especially when he spotted his buddy Jake from a distance and wanted to go join him, but he got to go home when he’d had enough. All in all, everyone fared well, and they were good and ready for more meditation time when I arrived for my regular rounds the next day.

We are all occasionally called upon to step out of our ordinary spheres for the sake of something bigger. That can be uncomfortable. Knowing what is expected, being able to express our needs and being among allies all help us meet those challenges for everyone’s good.

(Photos by Theresa Prentice)

Jake, Dava, Tuff and Emily

Animal health info: what I do (and don’t do) with it

Nancy Crowe

As an animal communicator, I sometimes get information about sore hips, tummy discomfort and more.  

The animal’s human caretaker often tells me about any health issues going in, and I always want to make sure any potential medical reasons for behavioral changes have been addressed by a vet. Other times the animal himself will tell me, or show me through images or feelings, during a communication session. 

One horse I’d worked with for a while showed me some pain in his hips and along the left side of his torso. The next thing I knew he was backing up to the fence and asking me to place both hands on his hips. I did and began a Let Animals Lead® meditation to help him relax. After a while he began licking and chewing, then walked off to rejoin the herd. 

I passed all of this along to his person and to the equine bodyworker who also worked regularly with him. After her session with him a day or two later, she sent me a diagram to show how she adjusted a misalignment on the left. The horse knew what he needed from each of us.  

The codes of ethics I follow for both animal communication and Let Animals Lead® are clear about not dispensing medical advice or treatment. They’re also clear about showing up and doing what we can do.