Rayn and Asha

My friend Asha, who rides out at the farm where Rayn lives, emailed me on Friday with this wonderful story. She agreed to let me post it here :-) (Also, I have to say--Rayn has been helping me learn my own boundaries since she came home two and a half years ago! As Asha says, she's very clear on her own!)

Hi Julia!

Thought I would share with you my little story of connecting with Rayn today:

When I took James back to the herd after my lesson, I decided to hang out with the horses for a while.  It was such a beautiful day in the middle of winter; a break from all the cold and snow we have had. It felt like spring. 

Rayn was lying down and I decided to approach her with a technique I had just learned from animal communicator Amelia Kinkade. I imagined sparkles and stars emanating from my heart and flowing toward Rayn’s heart. As I connected with her, I told her I didn’t want anything from her, and asked if I could come sit next to her. I didn’t get a verbal answer, but I felt a warmth coming from her. I felt invited, so I respectfully sat next to her. I gently reached out for her to smell my hand, and then I stroked her face. “I just want to be with you,” I said. “I want to connect.”

I suddenly received an image of Rayn’s owner, her human Mom. She was smiling so big.  Her face full of joy, her wisps of blonde hair shining in the sunlight. Rayn said, in reference to the image I had received, “I love that.” A few moments passed, and I was gifted with the same image. Rayn again said, “I love that.” I then knew how special her human Mom was to her. Of all the things Rayn could have showed me, she offered the image of her Mom’s joyful face. I asked Rayn, “What about your Mom’s children?” Rayn replied, “I like to help them.” She showed me how she comes to them with a calm and knowing energy. Like a wise grandmother. She showed me an image of how she sometimes envelops them by wrapping herself energetically around them. I showed Rayn a picture in my mind of a saddle going on her back and asked, “What about a saddle?” Rayn stated, “That’s not my way.” meaning that isn’t the way she helps, or teaches, or connects with people.

I sat with Rayn for a while, amused with her eating the scraps of hay around her. I gathered up some clumps of hay and offered them to her. She ate for a few minutes, then put down her head and went to sleep. I basked in her energy, trying to define it. It was a motherly energy, so different from all the geldings in the herd. I decided to reach out and stroke her leg that was just a couple of inches from mine. She sat up with a start and nipped the air right near my hand, much the way a dog will give an air bite as a warning. I instinctively pulled my hand back. Rayn pinned her ears back at me and said quite firmly “I am done connecting.” “OK”, I replied. “Wow, you have some clear boundaries.” (She IS the head mare, mind you.) As quickly as she reacted, she let it go and put her head down. Her breathing changed. She had gone back to sleep.

I sat with the herd for only half and hour. However, it was time without an agenda. I expected nothing of them. That freed me as much as it freed them. I allowed myself to just be. As I walked back to the car, I noticed how serene I felt. Here I was a yoga teacher of 23 years that had become more peaceful from sitting for a few minutes with a herd of horses than I am after an hour or more on a yoga mat.