Life gets a little crazy when you’re in love. All you can think about is the object of your affection. You spend every available minute with them. You talk about them to anyone who will listen. You have strange dreams. You don’t know what day it is. You fall behind at school and work. So, that’s a pretty accurate description of how my last few weeks have been.
A Big Change
After a week of daily reading to Komma from the horse training manual, during which he became accustomed to me, the halter, the trainer and living in a stall, it was time to move on to grooming, leading and lunging. By the end of the second week, he was halter broke enough to stand still for the injection of sedative from the vet so that he could be gelded. Roxie (the trainer) requested that my husband Brett be present for the procedure so that an additional man was available to control Komma if need be. Neither of us had ever seen a horse put under sedation. So we were not fully prepared for what a powerful and emotional experience it would be.
A Special Connection
My husband Brett is a combat veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Twelve years ago he was near-fatally shot in Afghanistan. He has had little to no prior experience with horses. And this experience with Komma triggered a response in Brett that I could not have possibly foreseen. In his words:
“He thought he was dying. After he fell down, I knelt over him, stroking him. I told him over and over “You’re gonna be Okay, man”. Just like they told me when I was laying on the ground. And they were right and I was right.“
The first couple of days after Komma’s procedure were difficult. He had a great deal more swelling than what is typical. Brett went with me every day to go check on him. He talked to him, fed him carrots, apologized for the pain and fear, and assured him that it would get better. He watched as Roxie taught me how to lunge him (the vet said it needed to be done twice a day during his recovery) and helped with cleaning the stall.
Shared Recovery
Ten days into Komma’s recovery we arrived in the evening to find Roxie trimming the hoof of one of her other horses. Eager to learn and help in anyway I could, I joined her in the stall and held the foot so that she could get better leverage on the clippers. Meanwhile, Brett fed Komma his welcome carrots and began to brush him while he waited. When the process stretched on, Roxie suggested that Brett go give Komma his workout – he had watched me each day and knew what to do.
To say that they each did well would be an understatement. To describe the connection that happened between them would be impossible. Fortunately, I was able to film it with my phone:
Falling Forward
Since then we’ve been taking turns working Komma. Each day is a little bit different, and each time we learn more.
But one thing is certain: now we’re both in love with this wonderful horse.