But her efforts were to no avail. The horse was antsy and
disobedient under saddle.
Another friend suggested she get in touch with
Mary Long, an animal communicator. Why not let the mare herself explain what
was bugging her? Mary doesn't have to be physically with your horse: you simply phone her up.
The fee was $50 to ‘chat’ with her horse through Mary for 30
minutes, so what did Cheryl have to lose?
Can We Talk?
All Mary Long needs to know about your horse is the gender,
height, breed, color and name. She doesn’t try to weasel extra information out
of you as clues about your horse. She simply requests the most basic details in
order to locate your horse and tune into him/her.
Cheryl gave Mary that bare minimum and waited to see what
her horse had to say.
The results astonished her.
Dana told Mary that her front left leg ‘felt funny’ all the
time. (The mare has a problem with the hoof on that leg which impacts her
movement. Mary couldn't have known about it. Dana explained how best to ride her through this.)
If Cheryl were more assertive when riding, Dana wouldn’t
feel the need to act up.
The mare’s jaw was out of alignment, which is why she couldn’t
soften to one side. (Cheryl called in a specialist, who discovered that jaw was
indeed ‘twisted.’ She straightened it out and now Dana flexes equally well on
both sides.)
Her back teeth were hurting. (A new horse dentist was called
in, who found sharp edges on the back teeth. Together with having the jaw
adjustment above, Dana’s head stays quiet and steady.)
In addition to addressing the physical problems, Cheryl has
shown more leadership in her riding style.
The upshot? A happy mare and a happy owner.
May I Talk, Too?
Inspired by this story, I decided to call Mary about my
gelding, Cruz Bay. You know, the horse I’ve had so many ‘interesting’ episodes
with!
Mary loves owners who have specific questions for their
horses. Your horse will be chatting continually with Mary throughout the
session, with many fascinating and helpful facts to convey to you. But this is
also a valuable opportunity to let your horse help you with any problems you
may have with him/her –usually why we call Mary in the first place.
Here is my half hour session, divided into two sections:
Cruz Communication (stuff he wanted me to know) and Mom’s Questions (stuff I wanted to
know).
My reactions are in parentheses.
Cruz Communication
I love dressage and like to feel ‘floaty.’ (Hurray! That's great news.)
I watch other horses and think ‘I wish I could do that.’
I admit that I hang on the bit and like to change sides.
(Little rogue!)
I see the bit as a toy to play and distract myself with. (At
least this bodes well for the double bridle! You’ll have twice the fun J)
I try hard, but I don’t always understand what you want. I
make myself sore with misunderstanding.
(Oops, Mom’s fault!)
I want synchronicity with you so much that it hurts.
(Awwww!)
I describe myself as light on my feet and powerful. (Boy,
ain’t that the truth!)
You’re a good rider. (I hope that wasn’t just flattery .)
You need to keep my face steadied. (Mary tells me that
you’re saying this a lot.)
I won’t figure it out: I need instruction and I see you as
my trainer. (Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa.)
I think your hands are wimpy. (Ouch!)
I feel your legs are nice and steady. (Thanks for that, at
least!)
I don’t like you bracing your hands and pressing your
knuckles into my back.
(I had no idea what you were talking about here. I NEVER
do that while riding. Then I rode another horse and suddenly realized what you
meant. When I lean down to tighten my dressage girth, I brace my hands and
press my knuckles into the withers! I hope you've noticed that I’m now very
careful not to do that.)
I feel some achiness from overachieving. (I need to make it
easier for you to move correctly. Less is more.)
I want you to cup my chin to steady it. I don’t know how
else to describe it. (I still don’t know what you mean by this, but I now
notice that you like to rest your chin in my hands or on my shoulder when I’m
on the ground. Not sure how to translate this into riding yet.)
Overall I’m happy and I see this as my forever home. (Awwww!
again.)
See what I mean? Cruz was very chatty. After all, this was
his one chance to communicate with me J
Mom’s Q & A Session
Q: Why are you so
afraid of other horses in the warm-up?
A: I’m not afraid
of the other horses, but of their riders. They power through and I want to stay
out of their way. They seem out of control.
I trust you, but not them. The warm-up ring is a combat
zone! I don’t want to run into anybody and you need to tell people to get out
of the way!
Q: Have you ever
crashed into another horse?
A: Yes. I was
being ridden by a tall man who was a very good rider. We were in the warm-up
and another horse cut in front from left to right just as I was jumping and I
hit the other horse on his right side. (This was a revelation – I knew who the
rider was. Cruz was in training and I had never been told about this incident.)
Mary: I will tell
Cruz to trust you that you’ll keep him out of trouble.
Q: Why did you
bolt on our last trail ride, after we’d
already gone past the scary section of our ride?
A: I was just being an idiot. The buck was ‘take
that, you scary situation!’ and after that I took control.
(Did he ever! Not sure how this makes me feel better about
his behavior, but at least that explains it!)
Mary (at my request):
Hilary wants you to be a ‘pony horse’ – i.e. quiet like the horses which
accompany the racehorses at the track to calm them down.
Cruz: I can do
that.
Note: Inspired by this, I yesterday
went on my first trail ride after the above bolting incident. I took charge, stayed calm
and kept Cruz on a light but firm contact. I put him in travers or shoulder-in
whenever he got worried about something like the lapping lake water, plastic
Canadian geese, and big signs, etc.
He hates narrow spaces, but we had to ride through a small
gateway with a post in front of it to get into the equestrian park and back
out again. So I rode a line through it which gave him a clear view of the space
on the other side.
He responded instantly and quietly to all my aids during the
whole ride. Things are improving!J
Cruz: I like your
caramel coat: I feel you’re in charge when you wear it.
Hilary to Mary: I
have two of them, but can’t wear them all the time.
(I wear a crucifix all the time, and finally remembered to show this to Cruz yesterday. I will make a point of showing it to him every time I ride. What better protection could we have than Christ’s?)
Using the Info
I admit to having been rather skeptical about the whole process, both
before and during, especially when Cruz was apparently talking nonsense. But that’s
where having taken detailed notes was so vital, because I was later able to see
that it wasn’t nonsense at all.
My relationship with Cruz has hugely improved since my session
with Mary, and I thoroughly recommend you talk to her if you have any concerns
about your horse.
She is not the only animal communicator available, and you
may want to try someone else. But she certainly worked for me and my horse so here are her contact details.
Mary Long’s Details
Phone: 302-239-6366
Cost of consultation:
$30 for 15 minutes
$50 for 30 minutes (which I highly recommend – you’ll be
amazed at how much ground you cover in that time!)
