Swimming with dolphins had long been on my bucket list so when that fateful day arrived I could hardly contain my excitement. At the time, our family was vacationing in the Florida Keys, a favorite destination of ours despite living in Florida. My husband seized the opportunity for me to interact with the dolphins knowing that the environment in which we were in was the perfect place to experience it.

When we arrived at the sanctuary, I was paired with a small group of people, two dolphins, a mask, flippers and a set of instructions. The dolphins, a mother daughter duo seemed to know their jobs as the trainers put them through their paces with their human counterparts. I was in absolute heaven. Soon the moment arrived in which I would swim one on one with the younger of the two dolphins. According to the trainers, “Crystal” was just learning this part of the program. As the trainers gave me specific instructions on how to swim next to the young female, wanting to be prepared, I inquired, “Will she bump me wanting to play?” The trainers responded with a firm no.

So off we went. As I took my first breath to slide underwater next to this magnificent creature, her eye looking directly into mine, she gave me a hard, playful bump. I surfaced to the audible gasp of the trainer and the laughs of my husband. My husband and I exchanged looks. He knew exactly what I did. This dolphin had just picked up what I had asked the trainers. Loving that I had established this connection, I dove deep into the water, rolling, twisting, and turning, only to be mimicked every step of the way. I felt like I could do this forever. As our time came to a close, the trainer commented on our connection. One I will keep close to my heart forever.

Every winter hundreds of horse and riders converge on Ocala to compete at a top circuit hunter/jumper horse show.  Although this was my life many moons ago, now, I find myself catching the occasional Grand Prix and visiting with friends showing from up north. On this day, a good friend of mine was showing her beautiful black stallion Envy in one of the grand Prix’s and I was anxious to catch their round. After exiting the ring, my friend and I embraced warmly and sat on the hillside to watch the other rides, while Envy stood patiently with his groom. 

Envy soon spoke up. He immediately gave me the feeling that his lips were numb and that he couldn’t feel them. I sat quiet. Although Sulu and I have been friends since childhood and she knows about my animal communication abilities, I had to make sure it was Envy speaking before I opened my own mouth. Sulu’s husband came over and they immediately started talking about restarting Envy on EPM medicine because Sulu was feeling some symptoms in which Envy could be mimicking the disease. EPM, short for Equine Protozoa Myeloencephalitis , is a disease caused by a parasite that can most commonly found in opossum droppings. Horses that contract EPM, usually from contaminated feed or water, can suffer from moderate to severe neurological disorders. Diagnosing and treating is extremely important.  As my friend and her husband continued to discuss the use of the medication, Envy started talking again. “They changed my bit too. I don’t like it.” So I spoke up. “Envy tells me his lips are really numb. “Sulu still watching the other riders didn’t miss a beat and said, “Yeah, someone tightened his lip chain too tight today!”  Well, that would do it, I thought.  I continued, “Did you change his bit?” Now I had her attention. She turned to me. “ Yes … “ she said quizzically, why?”  I explained. “He told me you did. He doesn’t like it.”  We marveled at his communication abilities, not mine, surprisingly enough, watched a few more rounds and said our goodbyes for the day.  

Many times the communication with animals will continue well past the time I leave them and this was the case with Envy.  I was fast asleep and awoken at 11 pm to Envy talking to me. “I don’t have EPM. I have THE worst headache.  I need a chiropractic adjustment. I am “out” in my occiput region and an area on my back. “ I sat up in bed. I turned on my phone and texted Sulu immediately as not to forget. As a true horsewoman, Sulu listened to Envy.  The chiropractor confirmed it, he was out, exactly where he told me and he was given a good adjustment. Sulu said she could tell he was feeling so much better by her rides.  I sent Envy a message. “Now that you are feeling  better, you should do really well in the grand prix.” His response, “Well, you do have to allow for rider error!” I couldn’t believe it. This horse had such an amazing sense of humor about the whole thing. I passed the message along to Sulu who got a big laugh. But Envy’s message wasn’t done. He went on to tell me that there is too much “whoa” in the corners, that he knows his job and to let him go. I passed this information onto my friend. This seemed to really sit with her the most out of all the communication.  As she pondered the message, she also confirmed it. She said, “He is right, I over adjust him in the corners!”

You have to know, as many times as I get confirmation between animal and owner, I am always amazed and I never take my abilities for granted.

The reading started off as any other. I was taking a walk on our beautiful horse farm, enjoying nature, along with the antics of my dogs. I felt particularly “tuned in,” so I decided to embrace the moment and connect with a clients horse who I had promised to do a read on.

As with my other reads, I only want to know the name and age of the animal. A picture usually helps with the connection, so I plucked my phone out of my pocket and scrolled for a picture of the mare named Tolo. Got it. The mare instantly gave me a sly smile. The owner did tell me her horse had quite the personality. The smile turned even more wry as she communicated ” I know something you don’t know!” She seemed quite amused by this.

The mare went on to give me some specifics about her conformation,  stating that she had broad shoulders, her right front foot was clubby, and also indicated her teeth were worn from chewing. I went about telling her owner, who immediately told me I had been conned! It seemed that Misty, Tolo’s mom had hijacked the reading! Misty had given me two specific pieces of information that made her stand out from her daughter … the clubby right front foot and the fact that she cribs.

Hence, the ” I know something you don’t know!” Misty had taken the opportunity to “speak up” when the opportunity arose. I’ve had this happen before. If an animal “needs” to be heard, they will ALWAYS find a way

It never ceases to amaze me when an animal speaks to me. Many times animals will convey what they need their owners to know through body language. However, to a trained soul, the communication is much different. I am able to physically feel everything the animal communicates to me. At that time, they may ” speak up” about something that is on their mind.

This was the case with an appaloosa gelding by the name of Baylen. Recently acquired by a client, I was asked to do a quick read so she could get to know him better.  I was given a picture of a beautiful spotted horse, told he was 6 years old, and that his name was recently changed to Phoenix because he wouldn’t answer to his previous name.

I went to work, noting physical attributes and problems. He corrected me on his age, announcing he was 10 years old and not six. He went about telling me several details about his health, conformation and how he moved. AND then, as adamant as any animal I’ve ever had the pleasure of speaking to, told me in no uncertain terms, ” I don’t answer to the name Baylen and I probably won’t answer to the name Phoenix because MY NAME IS ERIC!”

I relayed the information to the owner as we both got a good chuckle from it. She confirmed that “Eric” was an extremely vocal horse, always having something to say. It seems as if Eric got the last word in. Since the reading, this has become his newly acquired nickname.

 

On a trip to New Orleans one Christmas many years ago, I found myself in the French Quarter preparing for a carriage ride through the city. The horse that was to be our guide, stood skinny under it’s harness, it’s feet were worn with heavy shoes, his coat and eyes dull. I remember having the thought, “Oh, this poor horse.” And with that thought, the horse reached out and bit me hard. His driver seemed equally surprised, as seconds before small children were receiving kisses from the same mouth that had just bit me.

Although the bite itself hurt, I immediately realized what I had done. This horse had picked up on my thoughts and he did not want to be pitted. He then told me in no uncertain terms, ” I take pride in my job.”

Sometimes life has to bite us to remind us of what is really important.

I apologized to him and from then on, if I come into contact with a carriage horse, I always praise them and tell them what an important job they have. This seems to go over much better than my previous thought. Lesson learned.