Gunny and the Hot Air Balloon
One Saturday afternoon, a couple of weeks ago, I was spending some time with Gunny in his lean-to. We had done Sharing Territory earlier and I was just rubbing and scratching him for a bit before I went in to start supper. I happened to find a deer tick high up on the inside of his left thigh. So I was in the process of removing the tick and treating the bite and checking his sheath for beans. Gunny was standing perfectly calm and relaxed during all of this because he loves this sort of activity. I was so absorbed that I wasn't paying attention to anything else. When I finished I looked up and there was a hot air balloon coming right over the top of us.
Gunny was watching it but not getting too alarmed. I decided that I wanted to stay with him and see if I could help his stay calm while this huge thing went over his paddock. At first, I could tell that just my presence in the lean-to was keeping him standing still and watching rather than running to the other end of the paddock to watch. As it passed over the horse pasture next to him, a couple of the horses started to run around and get excited. When Gunny saw this his excitement went up a notch too.
By this point the balloon was directly overhead and every time they fired, we could see the bright light and then there would be a delay and we would hear the whooshing noise. But otherwise this huge thing was quiet--which I think is what makes it even scarier for a horse. It was so close that we could smell the gas/exhaust.
Gunny was looking and listening more intently and his head went up and body got hard with adrenaline. I was just sitting on his hay feeder at this point off to his left side, a few feet away. I started to ask for his attention by just reaching over and talking to him and snapping my fingers, to ask him to touch my hand. He would eventually be able to reach down and touch my hand with his nose and that would break his fixation for a moment so he could relax a bit before going back to staring up at this thing in the sky. I kept repeating this as the balloon passed directly overhead, 100 feet or less above us. Gunny stayed with me and in a semi-calm, intently observing mood this whole time.
After the balloon passed over the hill and out of sight, the horses in the pasture on the other side of Gunny's pen started to run around because they heard a deer in the woods. Gunny walked out of his lean-to to see what it was. At this point he was still calm, but on the verge of getting excited. I walked out of the lean-to and asked for eye contact. He turned around and looked at me, and I walked up and said Hello. As I stepped away to pause, he stepped nearer to me and put me in the companion walking position. We stood like that for a few seconds and then he leaned slightly into me and then away and started walking towards the lean-to. It was like he "built" the magnetic connection with that lean. We walked a few steps and I stopped and paused. He wanted to look around so I "built" the connection by leaning away and then leaning slowly towards him as he came back towards me. In this way we walked back to the lean-to and his hay, totally calm and connected.
He resumed eating and I hung out for a bit to make sure he was truly calm before leaving to go fix supper.
This is the first time I have used the Rituals purposefully, in this way, to handle a situation outside of our own connection and relationship. It was very exciting and rewarding to me to be able to keep Gunny calm in this type of situation, despite the fact that many of the other horses around him were upset. And it was very cool to have Gunny intentionally create that magnetic connection with me that was so palpable, and that he wanted that connection in that moment to help him feel better.
To me, this is more fulfilling and more exciting than any of the "fancy stuff" we used to do. Because now, it is about how the things we do feel. And that means so much more.
Gunny was watching it but not getting too alarmed. I decided that I wanted to stay with him and see if I could help his stay calm while this huge thing went over his paddock. At first, I could tell that just my presence in the lean-to was keeping him standing still and watching rather than running to the other end of the paddock to watch. As it passed over the horse pasture next to him, a couple of the horses started to run around and get excited. When Gunny saw this his excitement went up a notch too.
By this point the balloon was directly overhead and every time they fired, we could see the bright light and then there would be a delay and we would hear the whooshing noise. But otherwise this huge thing was quiet--which I think is what makes it even scarier for a horse. It was so close that we could smell the gas/exhaust.
Gunny was looking and listening more intently and his head went up and body got hard with adrenaline. I was just sitting on his hay feeder at this point off to his left side, a few feet away. I started to ask for his attention by just reaching over and talking to him and snapping my fingers, to ask him to touch my hand. He would eventually be able to reach down and touch my hand with his nose and that would break his fixation for a moment so he could relax a bit before going back to staring up at this thing in the sky. I kept repeating this as the balloon passed directly overhead, 100 feet or less above us. Gunny stayed with me and in a semi-calm, intently observing mood this whole time.
After the balloon passed over the hill and out of sight, the horses in the pasture on the other side of Gunny's pen started to run around because they heard a deer in the woods. Gunny walked out of his lean-to to see what it was. At this point he was still calm, but on the verge of getting excited. I walked out of the lean-to and asked for eye contact. He turned around and looked at me, and I walked up and said Hello. As I stepped away to pause, he stepped nearer to me and put me in the companion walking position. We stood like that for a few seconds and then he leaned slightly into me and then away and started walking towards the lean-to. It was like he "built" the magnetic connection with that lean. We walked a few steps and I stopped and paused. He wanted to look around so I "built" the connection by leaning away and then leaning slowly towards him as he came back towards me. In this way we walked back to the lean-to and his hay, totally calm and connected.
He resumed eating and I hung out for a bit to make sure he was truly calm before leaving to go fix supper.
This is the first time I have used the Rituals purposefully, in this way, to handle a situation outside of our own connection and relationship. It was very exciting and rewarding to me to be able to keep Gunny calm in this type of situation, despite the fact that many of the other horses around him were upset. And it was very cool to have Gunny intentionally create that magnetic connection with me that was so palpable, and that he wanted that connection in that moment to help him feel better.
To me, this is more fulfilling and more exciting than any of the "fancy stuff" we used to do. Because now, it is about how the things we do feel. And that means so much more.
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