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Shasta had no intention of staying up on this ranch. Being part of a herd of horses that we are sure she cared for dearly, but at the same time not being able to handle the rough hands of the trainer that would enforce her compliance against her will, she decided on her own to finally go, one way or another. She was not one of the chosen few to be taken from this place however it became apparent that she somehow new there was a better future for her somewhere else; a place that ultimately would be described by many domesticated horses if they could; heaven on earth for horses. Shasta herself just barely broke, knew what she had to do. There might have been some type of goodbye given to her now former herd mates, but maybe not. She was only observed walking the long distance away from the herd to where the horse trailer was parked, loading the chosen few who were to be taken from this hard place for the horses. She walked forward side to side across the pasture as she observed what was going on ahead of her; totally captivated on her intent; lending her the time to make this decision to depart the herd she had grown up with in this pasture in Northern B.C. The girls stopped in amazement to watch. Shasta's forward moving gait towards them left them for no better words, shocked. What was this mare doing? These horses had lived together in as tight of a herd as they come; who was she to show up this way, it just doesn’t happen. Shasta approached the fence line, Jill opened up the gate to check her only to find herself pushed aside as the mare proceeded to walk through the gate and then to proceed to self load herself onto the horse trailer, in beside Mickey, who wasn’t particularly crazy about this ordeal. True enough, this was not a great place for horses, not only the heavy and uneducated hands of the hired ranch help being a problem but the winter that was about to set in also shared it’s threats. The owner (an absentee out of town business man) had decided after culling his herd and breeding eight more of his most favorite mares that he wanted to keep, changed his mind, he had had enough; enough of this lifestyle which included the pregnant mares and their foals. So, maybe Shasta did have some insight as to the changes that were to come.

Shasta arrived in Pritchard, B.C. later that day. Her story was one to be shared with many. You don’t see this kind of thing happen every day. A semi-wild horse saying I am out of her making sure she would not be left behind. She was very body sore and her feet were a complete mess which would account for much of the pain in her unbalanced body. She hadn’t been trimmed in a good long time which we were sure caused this discomfort. Her feet were immediately trimmed up with a new set of shoes put on; what a difference. I was given the opportunity to massage her which I quite looked forward to. What was interesting in this particular case is that I normally offer some aromatherapy for horses that I work on to check in to see where they may be at emotionally. I could not find one essential oil that resonated with her and soon realized that her most recent living conditions in a large pasture where she was able to forge for food and even herbal plants, she would not likely require any of this that many of my more domesticated clients ask for more routinely. Upon placing my hands on her body, I immediately sensed stiffness. Her hind end was tightly contracted and her flexibility was almost non-existent. I applied some massage oil on her so my hands would pass more easily over her muscles but this had no effect. The work had to be completely non-invasive to break through the layers of tension she presented. My light therapy unit was my choice of treatment to help her body relax more at ease. After 35 minutes of using this therapy on her, my hands and fingers were more easily accepted as I palpated her musculature, which had by this time, softened up greatly. Her eyes were not of complete trust of me yet as I could tell by her focus on me that this was something she had never experienced. It also became apparent when she finally realized that she could accept this. Her neck slowly started to come down while hers eyes became still, demonstrating what I thought to be the horse going inward, discovering new sensations within which included the trust of people that was not a familiar thing for her. She allowed me to work on her quarters with my hand sweeping down between her thighs, massaging tight and sore muscles until they finally released. Her hamstrings were stubborn but eventually she was able to let go and even allowed me to do some of the stretching exercises that she could not do just 45 minutes earlier. She became more and more relaxed, perhaps even letting go of fear issues she may have had from her past.