I am still struck today with just how generous he was to share something he loved with a stranger. Gary owned a small family farm with horses and cattle. While his profession took him to the hospital as a physical therapist where I had met him, this was another side of him — love of the outdoors and his farm. With a temporary job as a doctor in Idaho for several months only, I had no friends or family nearby. I spent a lot of evenings alone inside watching television. One day, while visiting a patient in the physical therapy unit, Gary offered to take me to ride his horses and have dinner with his wife and family.
We had just driven up to his house, and a crowd of people were standing on his porch.
“This is my first wife,” said Gary with a mischievous twinkle in his eye and a grin. He pointed her out. I suddenly remembered that this was Mormon country with a history of multiple wives.
“Now stop that,” she said, making a show of being annoyed. Her smile betrayed that she had heard this before. “I’m your only wife.”
“I’m still young,” Gary looked at me with a sideways glance as his grin got wider. “You never know.”
She rolled her eyes, and my heart opened to their playful banter as he introduced me to his grown-up kids who lived nearby.
The Horse Pen
From across the field, I could see two horses in the pen. He pointed out the horse that I would ride. She was dark brown with a beautiful shimmering coat. He gave me a saddle, and we walked over to the pen. The first thing that struck me was that this horse was so BIG! My head just reached the height of her back. She was much taller than me. Then, I saw the contours of the powerful muscles of her legs and body, and there was an immediate awe and a balance of fear of this powerful and magnificent creature. She bowed her head and looked directly at me with large dark brown glistening eyes. Immediately, I could sense the gentleness. There was a relaxed sense of power in this animal.
Gary was my guide to this experience. He took the saddle from me, and showed me how to put on the blanket and saddle. He saddled his own horse, and then he helped me up. I was shaking inside. There is a deep trust to sit on this animal, countered with a fear of falling or being thrown. I had to calm myself, but Gary modeled a calmness and a sense that he had done this so many times. Between the gentleness of the horse and the calmness of Gary, I settled into a trusting space. He showed me how to ride. We walked, we galloped, … my heart racing up to my throat … the horse ran. There is a sense of freedom and power in this intimate connection with this animal. I realized in that moment how horses can be healing in so many ways. I had just had a deep learning about myself through this horse.
Silver Horse Retreat
Sara Fancy works with horses in her therapy sessions with her clients. Nestled in the mountains of Ranchita in Southern California, Silver Horse Retreat provides a perfect place for healing with horses (equine-assisted therapy). All of the horses have been “rescued.”
“The horse shows us when we are acting from our authentic self. When we resonate from this place the horse feels safe and acts accordingly.”
—Sara Fancy
Her specialized therapy with horses takes many forms: perhaps just learning to be in the presence of these horses, grooming them, maybe learning to “dance” with the horse, perhaps just learning to ride, or even specialized “constellation” therapy with the horses. Sara combines her eclectic learning to facilitate transformational experiences for her clients.
When I met Sara, she described how horses are “truthsayers,” knowing when we are authentic. They will move toward you when you are authentically present. I had always heard that they could sense fear, but this was something deeper. I immediately remembered my riding experience with Gary in Idaho. As I calmed, I remember feeling the horse become calmer. I remembered the connection with the horse and mutual trust that developed. I immediately could sense the “truth” that horses can offer deeply healing experiences.
Seeing her interact with her horses is when I really “got” what she was saying. Watch the video below.
Interview
Join me as I interview Sara Fancy of Silver Horse Retreat on the Living the Present Moment Study Group. Bring your own questions as we explore her work of “Healing with Horses” on Friday, June 23, 2017, at 12:30pm ET. Listen live or to the recording.
Video: Healing with Horses (Deepak Chopra)
Watch this short video from Deepak Chopra’s series 30 days of Intent. This episode visits Sara Fancy at Silver Horse Retreat.
Video: Horse Dance (Sara Fancy and Diva)