There is Still Magic . . .

Wasn't the sun just beautiful yesterday??? After so many days of dark dreariness, the bright sunshine really lifted my spirits.

We went out to visit my sister and The Herd in the afternoon, and I had a magical moment with one of the horses. Pearl, the new mare, has been rather standoffish. Horses are a bit like people and dogs in that eye contact is an important part of their social interaction with each other and with other creatures. Pearl so far has been reluctant to make eye contact. When you talk to her or scratch her ears, she tends to turn her head away or to stare straight ahead of her, a sign that she doesn't really feel comfortable. It's almost like she's apathetic and doesn't care one way or the other what you do with her.

The other horses are a different story. They have no problem at all with eye contact. They will not only stare you out of countenance, they will shove their big faces right into yours and gaze into your eyes with a look that says, "Hi, howya doing? I love you. Got any cookies?" And if you don't have a treat for them, they don't care; they'll just snuffle you all over until they get bored and wander off.

Yesterday I gave Pearl a bit of a comb with the shedding brush and pulled off lots of hair, then I kind of stuck with her, petting her and scratching her ears and her cheeks and under her chin. She is of a size where, when I stand by her head, we see pretty much eye to eye. As I was scratching her ears, she suddenly turned her eye to me and looked right into my eyes and held the look for a few seconds. It was almost as if she was saying, "Thanks, that feels good." If horses could smile, I would say she smiled at me.

It was a magical moment for me, that sudden, short connection. I can't really explain how it made me feel, but it was wonderful! It rather took me by surprise, too, because she has never looked me in the face before and I expected her to just wander away when she was tired of having me rub her head and face. And I certainly didn't expect any magic.

Just had to share that with you.

-- Lori