I just had the best weekend I've had all spring. I went to a beautiful place in Maine I'd never been before, and met several wonderful people I'd never met before, and I got to watch them work with beautiful horses for two days. The spirit of the occasion was very positive from everyone, and it was such a healthy thing for my soul.
Working with cats at the shelter is something I feel that I must do, and I love those cats very much. But it's unavoidable that the shelter environment is stressful, both for the people and the critters. There is always a war between positive things, such as a shy cat beginning to accept my touch, and negative things, such as another 13 year old cat who has been surrendered. We do our best to focus on the positive things, but the context of the shelter makes that a juggling act.
At the clinic this past weekend, however, there was so much good cheer going around. You could see it in the horses. Even when Meg was irritated at Dock, who was bugging her from across the fence, as soon as she got past him she shrugged off her annoyance and got back to enjoying the rest of her trip around the arena.
I really enjoyed being around the horses. I have not had an opportunity to spend time around so many different sizes of horse at once, and it was great fun to see how they were similar and different. The majority of the horses I have been around in my life have been Arabians, and they are small, like me. I loved seeing the taller horses this weekend, and watching the same techniques I have been practicing and reading about work just as well with animals who are so gigantic! I guess what it comes down to is that the horse's mind is fundamentally the same size and shape, no matter what her body looks like.
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