Our time at the sanctuary provided us with many great experiences where we were given the opportunity to learn about a completely different side to horse behavior and communication. This new knowledge was highly interesting and shifted our viewpoints towards horses and how we treat them. Clare and Chico lovingly attend to their seven horses – each with their own trauma histories and patiently re-establish a trust relationship between horse and man.They use completely force-free methods all aversive stimuli that are distressing for the horse are removed. Read More
So no pushing, no whipping, no kicking, no reins to pull on. Allowing each horse space to express their own voices again. To learn about the patient and respectful way of force free training by Clare made us more sensitive to the power imbalance between horse and man. Becoming more attuned to the horse’s calming signals made us question our own assumptions about how we think we should be treating animals. Learning whilst brushing Ada as she is completely relaxed, that the moment she lifts her head up or shows some kind of calming signal I stop so she know that I will listen and that I am attuned to her… Really not that different to being attuned to my clients [trauma therapist]. We also found that clearing the fields by daily poop picking was a surprisingly meditative Zen-like activity. 😀 Coming from Asia we enjoyed Spanish culture and learning a few Spanish words. We especially enjoyed visiting Ronda -the views are astonishing and the churros dipped in chocolate sauce to die for! We also thoroughly enjoyed learning from Elli who took us on a walk and talk about plants that we can eat and plants that are for medicinal use. We won’t be looking at weed the same way ever again! Thank you so much Clare and Chico for making our time so special. Much love to Nora and Stella and the whole 4-legged gang!
