Horse Wisdom: Magic #1

The image was drawn in October of 2007.  It may sound strange but this extraordinary horse Magic came through as a drawing before I actually met him.

This “Magic”-al experience all began when I first read, “Riding Between the Worlds” by Linda Kohanov, which guided me into the world of Equine wisdom. After reading this book, I saw in my mind’s eye an image of a chestnut-colored horse standing amidst the darkness.  This youthful horse stood tall with a distinct white mark on his face and a beautifully full wavy mane.  When I closed my eyes to focus on his image, I began to notice more details – a strikingly bright glowing white light radiating from his forehead mixed with radiant green and pink shining from his chest.   I felt as though he was telling me to draw him.  My first reaction was, “ I don’t know how to draw a horse… I’ve never drawn one… “ Even with all the doubt I had, his energetic presence was so strong that my initial hesitation soon turned to curiosity.  Still not knowing exactly what to do, I began by pulling out a piece of black drawing paper.  I sat in front of this blank canvas for a while until I mustered up the courage to picked up a white colored pencil.  Then as my hands began drawing over the black paper canvas, I kept thinking of a horse yet still not knowing what to do.  Then something magical happened. To my surprise, a horse appeared on the paper just as it had appeared in my mind’s eye.  With amazement, I continued by adding shades of light and the vivid colors I had imaged.   And this was the beginning of my journey into the world of Equine wisdom.

While reading “ Riding Between the Worlds”, I was equally excited to discover that the most influential leader in Holistic Nursing, Charlie McGuire (founder of the American Holistic Nurses Association), had a horse ranch in Colorado.  She was an enthusiastic student of Linda’s innovative horse therapy (Equine Facilitated Integrative Healing Therapy).  I wanted to know more about this horse therapy and couldn’t think of anyone better than Charlie to study with.  I was excited about my newfound awareness and was eager to begin my studying. I felt that horses were the teachers I needed in my life at the time.  They held the missing pieces that I had been searching for to ground my work as a healer and to accelerate my growth as a person.

Now for the hard part.  I needed to find a way to contact Charlie to let her know I was interested in studying with her at her horse ranch in Colorado.  Although I had known Charlie as a leader in Holistic Nursing for many years, she didn’t know me. So late one night, wide awake with anxious excitement about what to do next, I had drawn the image of Magic. The excitement of this new experience was the momentum and courage I needed to contact Charlie.   I sent her an email and asked if I could come to her ranch as a work study student.  I took a photo of the drawing and attached it to the email.  The next morning I received a phone call from Charlie and I vividly remember her saying, “Sounds like you have a journey to walk.  I’m happy to support you.  When do you want to come?”  It was late October when I first spoke with her and by the mid-December I had arrived at the horse ranch.  Located in the middle of the snow-covered high desert of southwest Colorado is where I met the horse I had drawn a few months earlier. Out of the 9 horses on the ranch, I knew instantly when I saw Magic standing in his stall, that it was him who told me to draw this image. Magic was a young horse among a herd of wise horses.  He was somewhat reserved and even seemed shy around me.  I, on the other hand, was so excited to meet him that I said to him, “It was YOU!!”  His reaction was equally unexpected as our first energetic encounter.  He said, or at least I thought he said, “Yes, it was me” in such a matter of fact way, without hesitation or excitement, but nothing less than clarity and certainty.　May you experience the generosity, wisdom and pure energy of Magic through these art pieces. The energy never fades as it continues to support all those who seek to receive his healing energy.

May you be GenKi!

 

Horse Wisdom: Magic #2

This second image in this series is a tribute to Magic and how I remember him during our last encounter at the ranch.

Two weeks after a visit to the ranch in April of 2011 (3.5 years after our first encounter and many visits to the ranch), I received a call informing me of Magic’s unexpected sudden passing.  Although in shock and deep despair, Magic’s energy again moved me (basically told me) to draw his image again, this time from the back.  My first reaction was very similar to the first experience, “How?…  I’ve never drawn a horse from the back…  I don’t know how.”  This time, I quickly realized that even full of doubt, I was to follow the energetic message by simply beginning to draw.

This time I also knew immediately what the image meant.  He wanted me to draw our last encounter when I went to say good bye.  When I reached his stall, he was peaking through a small opening half of his face showing as he look directly at me.  I opened the gate and walked into his stall.  As always, he was timid at first but slowly he turned his body so that his back side was against me.  Most horse people would tell you that such a gesture could be dangerous.  However, I also knew through my study of equine healing therapies that some horses are evolved enough to run energy through their back side (along the spine). To run healing energy horses turn their body to face away from you, not as a warning, but to run healing energy.  I had experienced their gift with other more mature horses at the ranch.  

Horse Wisdom: Magic #2

This second image in this series is a tribute to Magic and how I remember him during our last encounter at the ranch.

Two weeks after a visit to the ranch in April of 2011 (3.5 years after our first encounter and many visits to the ranch), I received a call informing me of Magic’s unexpected sudden passing.  Although in shock and deep despair, Magic’s energy again moved me (basically told me) to draw his image again, this time from the back.  My first reaction was very similar to the first experience, “How?…  I’ve never drawn a horse from the back…  I don’t know how.”  This time, I quickly realized that even full of doubt, I was to follow the energetic message by simply beginning to draw.

This time I also knew immediately what the image meant.  He wanted me to draw our last encounter when I went to say good bye.  When I reached his stall, he was peaking through a small opening half of his face showing as he look directly at me.  I opened the gate and walked into his stall.  As always, he was timid at first but slowly he turned his body so that his back side was against me.  Most horse people would tell you that such a gesture could be dangerous.  However, I also knew through my study of equine healing therapies that some horses are evolved enough to run energy through their back side (along the spine). To run healing energy horses turn their body to face away from you, not as a warning, but to run healing energy.  I had experienced their gift with other more mature horses at the ranch.  

Magic, however, was a young horse and had not evolved enough to run energy in such a way (or so we thought).  Something was different that morning.  Something told me not to move when he started to turn his back side toward me so I decided to stand still to see what might happen.  I soon realized that he was running energy through his spine and sending energy toward me.  I was overwhelmed by a feeling of love and acceptance.  After this special time we shared, I thanked him.

I’m still not sure why he passed so suddenly but wonder if he knew of his destiny when I said good-bye to him.  I think he wanted to show his true capacity before leaving the physical world.  My heart had to stretch to hold this deep sense of loss along with the  sadness of not being able to see him again.  At the same time, I was filled with even deeper sense of love and gratitude for his generosity in sharing his presence and warmth during our last encounter.   Thank you Magic for teaching me how to expand my heart to hold both sadness and love.  You are forever in my heart.

May you experience the generosity, wisdom and pure energy of Magic through these art pieces. The energy never fades as it continues to support all those who seek to receive his healing energy.　

May you be GenKi!