My horse got hurt, a three inch gash on the leg, and I had to go clean the wound and put salve on it. Horses are big, REAL BIG!! And a hurt animal can be dangerous. I was nervous, but I remembered how important non verbal communication is.
Animals are like young children; they look to you for confirmation of what they should feel. Pippi tends to get stiff with fright, and looks at me with a "hey, I am kinda freaking out here, should I be?" And then it is up to me to send her the message of "no, we're cool." And we take a breath together and settle down. So today I made sure that I was in the mindset I needed her to have. I was going to hurt her, with good intentions, but how does a horse know that? So we set work, and I told her what I was doing, she pulled her leg away repeatedly, who can blame her it hurt, but she never got mean. Wound cleaned, we hugged, and stood together for a long time.
I knew the moment was over when she muzzled the zipper of my Carhart jacket, and pulled it down. We're cool she said, and she is right!
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