Out of sight….
Sometimes, our knowledge and previous experience can influence our interpretation of what we see. In the story below, as a consequence of previous experience, Donna and I both believed that the horse in question was suffering in her hindquarters.
Between us, Donna and I have about 70 years of experience and knowledge about many things to do with horses. We know what lameness looks like, and how serious it can be. To add to the complexity of the situation, we were both still reeling from the death of a younger horse, another big beautiful Clydesdale, lost to the impact of fungus: tiny, unseen, living things, out of sight. We were afraid we were seeing evidence of the same thing again.
“Can you check out Dallas first today please?” said the horse manager when I arrived at the horse-riding center where I volunteer every week. “She has an abscess on her left front hoof. The vet treated it yesterday, so what is really bothering me is she hasn’t eaten her food for two days and the movement of her hindquarters is very uncoordinated. I’m still reeling from the neurological diagnosis we got about Riley and now this in Dallas.”
Donna’s distress was understandable. All of us who worked at the centre had been distraught by the loss of Riley.
Together we watched Dallas hobbling about. We looked at each other, unspoken dread passing between us.
When I stood beside Dallas in her stall she inclined her nose to her bandaged hoof, so I started my Reiki session as directed by her! Almost immediately I could feel the energy flow into my hands, feel her lower leg sucking in the healing power. This gentle giant of a horse nuzzled my head and shoulders while I knelt at her feet, telling me of her appreciation for the soothing effect on her lower limb.
After 15 minutes attending to Dallas’s foot, conscious of the manager’s concern, I stood to apply Reiki to her hindquarters. I moved my hands over her spine and her rump, to the base of her tail, feeling for the area requiring attention, attentive to the direction of the Reiki energy itself.
Dallas turned her head to look at me, then put her nose to her foot again. She may as well have said out loud that I wasn’t where she wanted me! But she wasn’t the only one telling me that story; the pull of Reiki energy was not presenting itself either.
I went back to her front leg. Straight away I felt the familiar feel of the energy flow. I acknowledged the wisdom of the energy from the two sources directing me; the animal wisdom of the horse herself and the wisdom of Reiki. I continued to work there until the powerful tug of energy diminished.
Dallas still hadn’t eaten her food by the time I left work three hours later. Donna and I remained concerned about her dis-coordinated movement in the hindquarters, yet the pain of her foot seemed less intense - she was certainly happier to walk around. I promised Donna I would do a distance healing session the next day, to work on the hindquarters.
During the distance session the following day I asked for guidance: “What’s wrong with her hindquarters?”
The answer came immediately – ‘nothing.’
I phoned Donna to relate my information and get an update on Dallas’s condition.
“Dallas is much better today. She ate her food not long after you left yesterday. Today there’s no sign of wobbliness in her hindquarters. It does seem like there’s nothing wrong with her hindquarters after all. She’s putting more weight on the abscessed foot, and her hindquarters no longer look discombobulated.”
Dallas and Reiki knew all along where she needed help! Wisdom indeed!
Just as we don’t always see things as they are, there are things we can’t see that are real!
A beautiful story beautifully told, Thanks Anne!
Thank you Jacky for your encouragement