I have had the privilege of working with a gelding by the name of Donnie for the last six years. Sadly, this wonderful horse died early last Sunday morning.
Donnie was estimated to be 30 years old, still providing riding lessons twice per week, doing groundwork with his owner, and working actively in my equine-assisted learning program at Sugarfoot Farm. He recently treated a three-year-old to a ride on her birthday.
While Donnie wasn’t very large in stature, he had one of the biggest hearts ever. When people come out see the horses and have an equine-assisted learning session, I always ask them at the end of the session what the horse taught them. Here are some of the answers about Donnie:
“What did Donnie teach you today??”
- “To love myself”
- “That I can be assertive”
- “That I can do anything I put my mind to”
- “Not to be so hard on myself”
- “To believe in me”
- “That Donnie is always with me”
- “He taught me the beauty of working with animals”
- “That I am enough”
- “That I can handle different people”
- “He affirmed my intuition”
- “I’ll always tap into that nudge he gave me”
- “He taught me to imagine positive outcomes”
- “That I can manage my anxiety”
- “Where my anger is coming from”
- “That is okay to lean on someone”
- “That I can let go of the wounded child I was to the strong person I am now”
- “That I’ve grown a lot”
- “I need to be more physical!”
- “Not to dwell on the past, enjoy the now and not rush the future”
- “How much I miss being around horses”
- “That I should return to the things I love”
- “It’s okay to think my thoughts but I need to replace the negative ones with positive ones”
- “I need to not be so in my head”
- “Listen to my own intuition and catch myself when I get into expectations”
- “Laugh when things don’t go my way”
- “He taught me to be confident in conversation”
- “You should take a deep breath before you do anything”
- “That I need to pay more attention to self-care and doing that is not selfish, it will help me be successful in my future”
- “To lighten up”
- “That I am in charge and I have choices”
- “I can manage my personal life and let go of past troubles and habits”
- “I can be myself and be happy”!
- “That people are going through their own stuff and it often has nothing to do with me”!
- “That I got this”
These are a very small sampling of the words I recorded from Donnie’s clients. Donnie was the channel to people reaching within themselves to access their own inner wisdom. It has been an honour for me to have facilitated hundreds of sessions with this wonderful horse.
I am so grateful to Donnie’s owner Renee and his caretaker, Delena, for their generosity and kindness.
Thank you for your service, Donnie. You are loved by many. The wisdom you shared will live on through many. Rest in peace dear friend, Love Sue.
To contact Sue, please email [email protected] or check out her website, HERE.
Sue Dixon, owner of Partnering Horses with Humans, is a Certified Equine Assisted Learning Facilitator through Horse Spirit Connections and Cartier Farms (Dreamwinds), and a Registered Coach through Equestrian Canada. Sue and her beloved horse Egalie were the 2014 champions of the beginner division of the North East Trillium Hunter Jumper Association. Sue has a degree in Sociology from the University of Waterloo.
Sue has 33 years of experience working at a local corporation with leadership in quality and health and safety. Sue’s role with Partnering Horses with Humans is that of facilitator; helping clients find their own wisdom by tapping into the horse’s wisdom. Sue operates her business out of two locations and offers services and workshops to individuals, couples, families, and workplaces.
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