Horse Sense and Songs

My very best friend, outside of my spouse and our dog, Asita, of course, was a horse named Sundance. But Sundance would be in his own category among animals and humans.

We shared issues, attitude, and understanding. His patience with me was immense as I learned the basics in equine communication, and then honed it to Sundance communication. He tolerated and filled in the gaps in my early confusing requests with his own knowledge of what to do. He chose me the day I  arrived. When I asked how I should choose a horse to work with, his owner had said that one of the horses would make that decision. We approached the corral, stopped, and waited silently. Sundance stopped grazing, raised his head, ears turning, tuning, nostrils inhaling my anticipation and sandalwood, no doubt, and then he walked away from the other horse, Dream, and directly to me. Head over the fence, he inhaled me deeply, and made his choice. From that moment on, our trust and affection for each other only grew. 

I would do whatever I needed to do to spend as much time with him as I could. He did whatever he could to please me, his own strong will not withstanding, while I learned to make my requests more clearly. I cleaned his hooves, gave him his special feed with vitamins and medicine but I loved to brush him, possibly as much as he enjoyed it.    His huge horse's head growing increasingly heavy  on my shoulder as he increasingly relaxed while I stroked under his long smooth neck, is one of my favorite memories ever. To have gained his trust and respect was an honor like none I’ve known, the kind of trust you relax all the way into. After riding and trying a few simple turns and requests in the round pin, we’d go for a long walk around the mountain; him munching scrub, me listening for rattlers; convinced here, now, there could be little else to hope for. This was my happy, my healing, my holy, my childhood Bonanza dreams come true. 

One of the things Sundance and I would do on our walks was to make up little songs together.      Mostly it was just for the two of us but I wrote a couple down. This is one of them. (*tune's on you)

“I was bro-ken

and re-stored

by Your love 

that lifted me.

I was heartsick 

and heart-healed 

by Your grace

that gifted me

With your dove,

With your peace 

With Your father's 

love for me.

With your dove,

With Your peace,

Mothering me,

With your dove,

With your peace,

With love’s symphony:

Restored and lifted,

graced, given and gifted, 

love and peace with no end; 

love and peace to extend, 

love and peace Again, 

and again, gentle Friend.”

May it be so.

-pdk