Pure Bred Spanish Stallion for Sale

Winds of change were blowing at La Luz when I visited the farm again in the spring of 2012. Almost three months after I spent a month there last October. The first big change was the absence of the beautiful Pure Bred Spanish mare Bondad. This mare, that I sat with one night during a colic last October, suffered another colic this February which she didn’t survive. Bondad is the Spanish word for kindheartedness. It was a name that perfectly matched her character. As soon as I walked into the yard I missed seeing her lovely face sticking out above her stable door. Her stable was at the entrance of the yard and from there she always seemed to extend a warm welcome to everyone. With her balanced stride, even temper and her gentle manner she taught so many people, including me, that it could be fun and safe to ride. I had always taken her for granted and I had never quite realized how much her presence contributed in a positive way to the atmosphere of the farm.

Two privately owned young stallions, Bandolero and Metre, were now at "La Luz". They will be trained by Susan for their respective owners.. Metre is a Pure Bred Spanish Stallion to fall in love with at first sight. He has a lovely face, nice character and moves beautifully. He is playful and keen to learn something new. (He is for sale by the way, so if you happen to be looking for one. I suggest you spend some time with him at "La Luz" while he is there and I would be surprised if you went home with out him!) The other horse Bandolero is the strangest horse I have ever seen. Still young, not quite five, he looks as if his body is made up of body parts of different horses that have randomly been thrown together. With a huge neck and a very small hind he looks surreal.

I was happy to find my old friend Anelka in his stable. He welcomed me warmly and it was with him that I developed a beautiful interaction during my stay this week. One morning, determined to deepen my knowledge of equine cranio sacral therapy I locked myself into his stable with anatomy books. I studied his body and his movements, the feel of his muscle tone and connective tissue. I tried to establish what the underlying patterns of tension were which gave him a stiffness that he found hard to let go of. He patiently stood still and seemed quite happy with what I was doing. After about an hour I decided to get him moving outside to see how he had responded to the treatment. I stepped out of the stable to get his halter and when I came back he was lying down. I laughed and said "so you are not planning on going anywhere are you?". I decided I wouldn't ask him to get up as this was a unique opportunity to treat him while he was not bearing weight on his legs. To my surprise Anelka really engaged in the cranio sacral session. Almost in the same way people do. Slowly drifting off into a deep relaxation, sighing every now and then and stretching his legs.

During the remainder of my stay almost as soon as I stepped into his stable he would lie down. I presumed it was his way of "asking" me to treat him again, which I did. I was lucky to be able to document these sessions with a tiny photo camera that I placed on a crate in a corner of the stable. Below you will find a link to a film I made of these session as well as some photographs of Anelka, Bondad, the beautiful stallion Metre and his friend Bandolero.

 

A change of weather and a mare with colic

The temperature has dropped considerably this last week and we have been getting a lot of rain. Much to the relief of the locals who welcome this weather after six months of drought. Rain or shine the horses always need to be fed, cared for and and trained. I took the opportunity to take pictures of the farm and the animals in the rain. Which made for a series of pictures of Susan giving her black stallion Morisco a run, of me giving cranio sacral treatment in the rain and of the puppies looking for shelter in the straw shed.

A week ago Em, a close friend of Susan’s, arrived with her teenage daughter Jess. Bringing liveliness and chatter to the guest quarters. Between rain showers Susan, Em and I took three horses out for a short ride. It was only up the track and back but it felt great. I rode one of my favorite horses; Bondad a beautiful lively Spanish mare. The air was cool, crisp and clean and carried smells of orange blossom, citrus and rosemary. The horses seemed to enjoy the cooler weather and the exercise; they had their ears forward and were eager to trot and canter up the hills. My riding skills have improved during the month that I have been here thanks to the riding lessons I have been getting from Susan. I had most of my riding lessons bare back which I enjoyed and which improved my seat.

The day ended with tapas and sweet Spanish wine in the guest quarters. I spent so much time this week enjoying wonderful meals, good wine and lively conversations that I got to bed late and I have not found time to type up my blog. I did manage to give two workshops on Alexander Technique for riders this week though as well as private cranio sacral therapy sessions and Alexander Technique lessons to people from the local village. All in all it feels as if I have been incredibly busy.

Last night the mare I rode out earlier this week, Bondad, got a colic and Susan, Em and I were worried about her. There was no point in all three of us staying up and I volunteered to keep watch. It was a cold night so I wrapped myself up in a horse blanket and sat for hours in the hay on the stable floor as I sang softly to Bondad to keep her calm and myself occupied. A horse with colic is a sad sight. The distress, the moaning and the pain are hard to witness when there is not much one can do. Every hour or so I took Bondad out of the stable for some exercise to keep her intestines moving and to relieve her pain. It felt surreal to run around with a sick horse in the middle of the night with the dogs and the other horses watching us. There was no moon only a dark sky full of stars and a piercing cold wind. Twice I woke Susan, I wanted her opinion on what to do when the mare could not calm down and started to scrape the floor and bang the wall with her hooves. Sadly there wasn't much we could do for her but wait until morning and hope that she would make it through. At about 4:30 Em and Susan took over and I got some sleep. As I am typing this up the vet has come by and treated Bondad who seems to be responding well even though she is not out of the woods yet. Personally I am longing to lie down after the long and cold night in the stables. But I should start cleaning and packing as I leave for Amsterdam early tomorrow morning.