Walking once again to the aromatic barn on a chilly Sunday afternoon, I mention to my friends that I love how animals all look at you when you walk onto a barn yard. And that’s exactly what this week’s class focuses on: “awareness bubbles.” Loosely based on chakras, the concept for this week’s class is essentially being or becoming aware that someone is in your personal space and how others do the same with you. To possibly get a sense of where my bubble(s) is (are)—if that’s really possible is still an uncertainty for me—I found it helpful to concentrate on where I was drawn to, but this is the sort of thing that works differently for everyone.
Horses have enormous awareness bubbles. To learn just how enormous, we take turns with two horses, Boo and Sandy, whom we’ve met before, though last week I didn’t get a chance to interact with Boo; I did greet him before class started this week. The primary exercise involves walking from the farthest part of the arena toward one horse and stopping whenever the horse moves in reaction to you, taking a half-step backward and letting out a sigh before continuing forward. Watching a horse while another person approaches him/her teaches as much as being the one who is walking. Horses know you’re coming, even when their noses are buried in some hay. Ear twitches, a slight raising of the head, or less subtle movements let you know that they know.
Walking toward Boo turns into a joyous experience. As I walk to Boo, I see out of the corner of my eye Wesley, one of the resident barn cats, coming right for me. He rubs against my leg and I have to reach down and give him a little pat. I continue forward, and so does Wesley. He’s weaving himself between my legs so I stop but keep my eyes on Boo. Wesley comes around in front of me and reaches up with his front paws, requesting more pats and I oblige, briefly looking down at Wesley. When I look up again, Boo’s ears are completely focused on me and it feels as if Wesley has opened the gate to Boo for me and it’s alright for me to walk the rest of the way to Boo without stopping — in fact, Boo walks to close the last five feet for our greeting and then past me to show me where he would like to be pet, on his hind quarters. Did Wesley stamp “APPROVED” on me for Boo? Did Boo see that I was trustworthy human?
The session ends with Lucy falling asleep on her feet while one person is finishing the exercise with her and then she decides to lay down. The massiveness of her resting on the ground is palpable. Her head bobs in resistance to falling completely asleep, but eventually she succumbs and rests her chin on the ground. As we chat in the final minutes of class, Boo stands behind her looking like maybe he would like to take a little snoozle, too. At long last he lays down, at which moment Lucy stands up, probably in response to a herd animal instinct to have at least one on guard.
Did we, as a group, send out such a soothing vibe today to put two horses at such ease that they were comfortable enough to sleep? To be approved by animals is one of life’s highest honors.
Pledges
Please, consider pledging to this substack, A Good Spot, as it would be greatly encouraging and well, simply, AWESOME. (Pledging is not paying right away; a subscriber pledges to become a paid subscriber if and when I turn on paid subscriptions, which I don’t plan to do for a long while. When I do, every thin dime will go directly to rescued animals.)
And, if by the end of 2023 I have five (just 5!) people pledging support, I will donate $100 to one of the animal rescues I talk about (but I won’t turn on paid subscriptions to do that).
Soporific... in the nicest way.
I really enjoy your portraits of the animals. I'm especially appreciating the angle of Wesley's rear leg in today's illustrations.