Fyre Archives - Julie Bradshaw https://julie-bradshaw.com/category/fyre/ Horses, Photos, Metaphysics and Miracles Mon, 03 Apr 2023 02:38:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 203958876 Love Horses? This is the REAL reason! https://julie-bradshaw.com/love-horses-this-is-the-real-reason/ https://julie-bradshaw.com/love-horses-this-is-the-real-reason/#comments Mon, 03 Apr 2023 02:38:43 +0000 https://julie-bradshaw.com/?p=1389 I love horses. If you're reading this, YOU likely love horses. The reasons people give for exuberantly claiming “I love horses” are many. And while they are all true on some level, I think they only scratch the surface of the truth. I recently discovered the real reason you, and so many people around the […]

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I love horses. If you're reading this, YOU likely love horses. The reasons people give for exuberantly claiming “I love horses” are many. And while they are all true on some level, I think they only scratch the surface of the truth. I recently discovered the real reason you, and so many people around the world for hundreds of years, love horses.

Historical Reasons People Love Horses

While there are many different reasons people may love horses, I think these are the most common.

  • Beauty: Horses captivate us with their beauty. From flowing manes and tails to gorgeous colors and color combinations, the physical beauty of a healthy horse is nothing short of magnificent.
  • Size: From the smallest miniature horse to the largest of work horses, we love horses for their size. Every size holds different capabilities. Whether used as a therapy horse in hospitals or nursing homes, to move civilizations from one area to another, to herd cattle, to pull wagons or plows, or to entertain with dressage, the horse's size captivates.
  • Use: The productive uses of a horse decreased with the advent of automobiles but they are still used every day by farmers, law enforcement, and businesses, such as those with horse-drawn carriages.
  • History: There is no animal more involved in the evolution of modern-day man than the horse. Utilized in wars, in giving people the ability to move across long-distances, in the Pony Express, and so much more, we love the horse for the reminder of times gone by.
  • Sense of Freedom: Moving from the physical attributes of the horse to the more emotional, we love horses for the wildness, the sense of freedom that they give us. Watching or riding a horse as it gallops effortlessly across a pasture, an open plain or field, lights up a part of us that wishes we could be wild again, even if just for a moment.
Love Horses, The Real Reason Why Galloping Horses

How I Discovered The Real Reason We Love Horses

I had a moment of great vulnerability and things became clear.

I recently was feeling very down about my life. While I spent the first half of my adult professional life having great success at everything I touched, when I hit “middle age”, everything seemed to fall apart. I am blessed to be “gifted” in a number of things, coaching, photography, making jewelry, and of course training anxious rescue horses, but no matter what I tried to put my focus on, I couldn't seem to get any financial traction.

And on this day, I was feeling particularly low. I wasn't making enough money to even pay all my bills. I felt restricted by my ability to do anything but have my own business due to the needs of my son with autism. My mind was in panic mode, not only hashing out all the terrible things that had happened, but those that could happen. I was the extreme of “monkey mind” that had “gone down the rabbit hole.”

Having recently rediscovered my love of journaling and the insights it brought, I grabbed my journal and pen with turquoise ink to take with me to my horses. (My horses don't live on the same property with me.) My plan was to feed the horses, hang out with them, and then do a little journaling to see if any insight came about what I should do next.

After they finished their breakfast, they roamed around a bit before following me out to stand under some shade trees. Prince, my chestnut gelding, was especially attentive. He wanted to be right next to me. And initially, he was adamant about not wanting Ankh, or Fyre, close to me. But they were persistent, as they too seemed especially adamant about being close to me. I slowly convinced Prince to let them get closer.

The Set Up for The Realization

So, there we stood, the four of us. I was leaning against a tall oak tree that was in a shallow ravine that ran through the front half of the property. Prince was on my right. Ankh and Fyre were on my left. Or occasionally Fyre was standing in front of me. He and Ankh were particularly restless it seemed, moving around each other in order to position themselves close to me without catching the disapproval of the herd leader Prince.

Slowly my “monkey mind” began to fade. I was no longer covered up in the darkness of the rabbit hole. My mind cleared and my body relaxed, shoulders dropping. The tension headache I had woken up with just disappeared. I realized I felt like I do when I go to the beach and ocean. I was so at peace. It explained to me why I hadn't felt the urgent need to go to the beach like I used to. In fact, I haven't been to the beach in several years.

As I stood there, an idea just seemed to bubble up. It was an idea for an event that incorporated a particular type of journaling and/or other creative outlets that could be done while spending time with my horses. I have had so many “ideas” that I wasn't 100% positive that this wasn't just another “monkey mind” idea, born out of desperation.

But I soon discovered, that was not the case.

The Experience

I was feeling so good and thought I should try to do some journaling just in case some other ideas needed to bubble up. My journal and pen were in the barn though, so that meant leaving the circle I was in with the horses and returning back to the barn. I wanted to grab it and come back before the horses could leave the treed area. I went at a brisk pace and hadn't made it 50 feet when I noticed I was back in “logical” mode.

Just like that, when I stepped out of that ocean of horse energy, my body and mind shifted away from that peaceful place, and into my mind. It was a noticeable and significant “re-entry” just like when you return from vacation to your own life. I went from paradise to reality in less than 50 feet.

I went and grabbed my journal, pen and folding chair and ran back to sit under the trees with the horses. Every time I tried to open the journal, Fyre or Prince came and BIT it. See the picture of Prince biting it below! They would not leave me, or the journal, alone. I literally could not write anything because they wouldn't let me open it long enough to write anything in it. I finally had to give up.

Love Horses Horse biting journal
Prince biting journal

They were telling me that the idea I had been given was the only one I needed.

The Science Behind It

But the true result of the entire experience was the insight into why we love horses as much as we do.

Every time we share space with them, they are taking us out of our logical mind. The logical mind that often is filled with doubts, anxiety, self-criticism, judgement, and even choices that don't ultimately makes sense for us. The mind may encourage us to make them out of desperation or a place of fear.

But what happens when we are taken out of that place? What we feel, what we “hear”, what we experience is not our conscious, but our subconscious. Our soul even.

On a scientific note, the mind processes 11 MILLION bits of information per second. The conscious human mind, the logical mind, can only process 50 bits per second. Think about that for a second. Let it sink in.

When you are making decisions from your logical mind, you are actually making them with extremely limited information. But when you separate from the logical mind, and tap into the subconscious, you are accessing an ocean of knowledge. It's like comparing a 1/4 teaspoon of water to the entire ocean.

While there are many methods of tapping into this wealth of knowledge, many can require practice, skill, and a conscious focus (which seems ironic). Instead, one can spend time with horses, and they help you to do it much faster. Not to mention they smell so good! 😉

Personally. I believe they are even able to do it to a certain extent by seeing them in pictures, in movies, in videos, etc. I've had many people tell me my horses have brought peace to them solely from the pictures I share of them. Horses inspire just by being them.

The Real Reason We Love Horses

But what if they do more than inspire? What if the reason we love horses so much is because they are a switch that can take us from our conscious mind to our subconscious mind, or soul, just by being in their presence? Think about the possibilities!!

My experience confirmed that. And looking back on daily experience with them for years confirms it as well.

I didn't realize that the idea they gave me to host events with them held an even deeper meaning. Each event will give attendees the opportunity to experience this switch from conscious to subconscious mind for themselves.

I pondered the idea of holding the events on Saturday mornings but in the end, decided on Sunday mornings. The time will vary depending on the temperature outside. (Summer/high temperatures will mean earlier mornings for instance.) As long as there are attendees signed up, they will be held even if the date is a holiday in most cases. And rain or shine. Check this page for all the details on Soul Sundays with Horses!!!!

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How to Train a Foal to Like Touch https://julie-bradshaw.com/how-to-train-a-foal-to-like-touch/ https://julie-bradshaw.com/how-to-train-a-foal-to-like-touch/#comments Wed, 09 Mar 2022 04:12:13 +0000 https://julie-bradshaw.com/?p=932 It may take time to learn how to train a foal to like touch. They come into this world with the instinct of not trusting humans, because we are “predators” in their eyes and they are prey. While many horse training resources tell you to touch and handle your newborn foal as soon as possible, […]

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It may take time to learn how to train a foal to like touch. They come into this world with the instinct of not trusting humans, because we are “predators” in their eyes and they are prey.

While many horse training resources tell you to touch and handle your newborn foal as soon as possible, sometimes your foal really struggles with being touched and you have to take a step backwards in your approach.

Or maybe it doesn't feel right or good to you to “force” touch on them. Sometimes forcing touch backfires and makes them more scared. Whatever the reason, using a different approach can make a difference when you are training a foal to get accustomed to being touched.

How to Train a Foal to Like Touch

Use Their Natural Curiosity

Foals are naturally curious and that curiosity can be a big advantage when you need to know how to train a foal to like touch. If your foal is struggling with human touch, try introducing something long, foal-safe and foal-proof to work on touch instead. I use a pool noodle as it serves two purposes.

  1. Pool noodles can be hacks for all sorts of things (read more at Pool Noodle Hacks for Horses and Barns) and introducing them early can pay off big later on.
  2. It allows them to experience touch from something other than your hand. Thus, it feels safer to them.

Teaching My Foal to Like Touch With a Pool Noodle

My 1-week old palomino colt Fyre just had not warmed up to my touch as much as I had hoped. He was still pretty unsure about it and could at times become aggressive/dominant about it. I decided I needed to try a slower approach.

I brought out an extra pool noodle that was laying in my barn. He came trotting right over when I walked into the paddock with it. He wanted to know everything about it, and for him, that involves licking and “mouthing” it.

Once he got pretty comfortable with it, I began to move it around, and just slowly moved it across his back.

It was pretty cold here when I filmed this, so he was wearing a turnout blanket. It turned out to be a good buffer for the pool noodle. He was able to experience it even more slowly than if he hadn't been wearing the turnout blanket.

Go ahead and watch the short video clip as I want to make a few points about my approach with him, and you need to see the video first.

Keep It Slow and Steady

When you are training a foal to like touch, just as with any other horse training, you have to go slow in the beginning. If you'll notice I only brushed the pool noodle across his back twice. He seemed to tolerate it well and I wanted to stop there.

He was very touchy with his legs, so I while I did touch his back leg once, I only did it once.

I kept the introduction and session short and positive. Even though he usually “comes back for more” quickly, I wanted to end things on a positive note. And I didn't want to overwhelm him.

The Science Behind a Horse's Touch Sensitivity.

Horses have senses that are far stronger, and in some cases very different, than humans.

In the case of touch, consider that a horse can feel a fly land on a single hair. Yes, a tiny fly lands on an individual hair in the horse's coat and they can feel it.

Fly on Horse's Face Train a Foal to Like Touch

A foal's coat and skin, which is being exposed to new things literally every hour of every day, may be extra sensitive.

Certain parts of the body are more sensitive than others. The flanks, withers, groin and heel bulbs have more receptors than the chest for instance.

The muzzle area is probably THE most sensitive.

Every horse has something known as vibrissae growing around their eyes and muzzle. Around the muzzle, they are known as whiskers. These seem to have a dedicated part of the brain connected to them and they even have their own unique supplies of nerves and blood.

Vibrassae are their own sensory organ essentially! Disturbingly, it was (and still is for some) common practice to trim a horse's whiskers for cosmetic purposes. It's sort of like taking away a second set of eyes for them.

You can see the vibrassae a.k.a. whiskers on my gelding Ankh in this picture.

Vibrassae example Train a foal to like touch

The vibrassae protect the eyes and muzzle by letting the horse know if something harmful is getting too close to their eyes or muzzle.

When it appears that a horse is smelling something, they are actually “feeling” it as their remarkable sense of smell picked up the scent of the item long before they got close enough to touch it.

Some horses also seem to be more sensitive to touch than others. Ankh has always been very sensitive to touch. And it seems he passed this trait on to his son Fyre (he was gelded after Fyre was conceived.)

Yet I've had others that love a deep massage and/or a good thorough scratch.

Best How To Train a Foal to Like Touch Tip: Do What Works for You and Your Foal

Some foals will respond better to touch than others. Some will get it quickly and others will take time.

Try different tools and devices if you don't have a pool noodle. Maybe try using a crop or short whip/training stick.

A soft brush may even feel better to the foal and can be a way to train your foal to like touch. It introduces them to grooming as well so that's another dual-purpose tool like the pool noodle.

Experiment with a variety of tools, brushes, materials such as halters, lead ropes, and blankets. The response they give you is good information for you and will expose them to a plethora of different things.

Every new thing they experience gives them insight and wisdom.

Have you tried any of these things with your foal or horse? What reactions did they have? Tell me all about it in the comments.

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Tails of Fyre: Newborn Foal https://julie-bradshaw.com/tails-of-fyre-newborn-foal/ https://julie-bradshaw.com/tails-of-fyre-newborn-foal/#comments Sat, 05 Mar 2022 21:42:38 +0000 https://julie-bradshaw.com/?p=912 New life is always a miracle, but a newborn foal, especially when it is your, and your mare's, first foal, is especially exciting. I have to start from Day 1 and will share his growth and training in subsequent blogs. History of a Newborn Foal: Dam/Mare Fyre, short for Wildfyre, came to be under some […]

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New life is always a miracle, but a newborn foal, especially when it is your, and your mare's, first foal, is especially exciting. I have to start from Day 1 and will share his growth and training in subsequent blogs.

Tails of Fyre newborn foal sleeping

History of a Newborn Foal: Dam/Mare

Fyre, short for Wildfyre, came to be under some extraordinary circumstances. I had only recently acquired his dam/mother, Magic, a Peruvian Paso, a couple of weeks prior to his conception.

She came to me from Alice, a friend, who had given Magic a home in her herd of 11 horses, for almost two years. However, Magic had almost never let them touch her in those two years. Having been rescued from a kill pen (a last chance auction for horses) by a woman who then sent her to a trainer, Magic's fear of people seemed to just grow and grow.

The woman gave her to a rescue who took in gaited horses such as Peruvian Pasos, Paso Finos, and Tennessee Walkers. The woman who ran the rescue eventually reached out to Alice to see if she would be interested in Magic as Alice has quite a few gaited horses.

Alice and her husband took Magic in, but they still struggled with working with her.

I had only recently met Alice through a trail rider's group and while going on a ride together, she asked me if I would come and meet Magic and see if the energy work I do might help clear some of Magic's trauma.

I drove almost two hours to Alice's home and we put Magic in a paddock. Within about 45 minutes, Magic was coming to ME for me to pet her. This was without using any treats, just my way of engendering trust with a horse. The full story is A Horse Chooses You.

Alice, Magic and I decided that day that Magic and I belonged to each other.

Little did I know that day I would end up with a newborn horse out of the deal.

History of a Newborn Foal: Mare Comes Home

Magic arrived at my place March 2, 2021 and spent almost two weeks in her own paddock so that she and I could get to know one another. At the time, I had two other horses.

One was a horse named Scout, a Dutch Warmblood who was my heart horse. But I already knew that Scout's time on Earth was done and he would be leaving me the very next week when the vet came at the scheduled time.

The other was my rescued palomino Arabian/Paint stallion, Ankh. Ankh had been in his own pasture completely separate from Magic. But he knew she was there.

On Thursday, March 11th, I let my Scout go to the Rainbow Bridge. It was the hardest thing I've ever done.

History of a Newborn Colt: Stallion Sparks Fly

On Saturday, March 13th, I decided to try moving Ankh up into a large paddock behind my barn so that he and Magic could meet each other through a tall fence.

He had been pastured with another mare I had owned when he first arrived and there were no issues. He was still easy to work with and had no big, aggressive stallion behaviors.

So, I was planning to let them greet through the fence first and if it went well, let him out in the paddock.

He began to get excited, but it still wasn't anything I was worried about.

He however, was worried that he couldn't get away from me because of the lead rope. In a split second moment, he moved around me quickly, and I thought, “Oh I need to move.”

That was the last memory I have before waking up in the paddock with big pain in my shoulder. I had been kicked in the shoulder and knocked unconscious. Thankfully my phone was in my pocket and I was able to call 911.

I spent 5 days in the hospital with a broken collarbone that required surgery and a metal plate, two fractured ribs, and a collapsed lung that required a chest tube.

Tails of Fyre:  Newborn foal collarbone

Some dear friends came and were able to get Ankh's halter and lead rope off, but were unable to separate Ankh and Magic. I even had a person that has owned horses all his life come and try, and he couldn't separate them either.

Apparently Magic was truly “magical” for Ankh and sparks flew when they finally got to meet face to face.

They spent 10 days together before I was able to get back and separate them myself.

Ankh had brain surgery, errrr, I mean gelding surgery, over the summer of 2021. He was never the calm stallion that he was before Magic came, and it was clear that he definitely didn't need to be a stallion anymore.

(Gelding a stallion is neutering them. They are no longer able to reproduce and are then referred to as a gelding.)

Newborn Foal Delivery

Eleven months later, the big day arrives.

I had been watching Magic closely for weeks and the day the waxy colostrum appeared on her teats, I knew it was coming. I honestly thought it might be a day or two because her udder had filled up so slowly, and she wasn't showing any other signs of impending delivery (pacing, urinating, biting at her stomach, etc.) but I wanted to be there at the barn just in case. I'm so glad I was.

After it got dark and I got settled in for a cold, cold 27 degrees Fahrenheit night, I watched her pace for a while but I thought maybe she was worried about being in the barn with Ankh out in the pasture.

Then she laid down and I still thought maybe delivery was in the very first stages and we'd be delivering in the wee hours of the morning. I tried to stay quiet and uninvolved, as sometimes mares won't deliver if someone is close.

So, I was shocked when I looked over the stall wall to see the bag already coming out!

With no power at the place I lease, I relied on flashlights and lanterns to watch and film, but the miracle of birth of my and Magic's first foal was as insanely special and well, magical, as I thought it would be. He arrived at 10:46 pm.

He only took a few minutes to rest before starting to move around. I laughed because he was sassy from the first shake of his head and the first strike of his leg. He scooted all the way around Magic and got behind her.

Here is a compilation video of his birth and first journey. If you've never seen a newborn foal delivered, you're in for a treat.

He landed in front of the stall door and got a little cold and wasn't getting up to walk and nurse. So, I had to put down the phone, get a blanket on him and get him warmed up. Then I helped him stand up.

He eventually was on his feet, although still a little wobbly. (His tendons were slightly too flexible at first, but a couple of days of running around stiffened them right up.)

Magic was unsure at first about him nursing but on his second real attempt, we had connection and colostrum!

Tails of Fyre:  Newborn foal nursing

Trouble in the Barn

Unfortunately, around 2:30 a.m. I had to make a call to my vet as the placenta had not been “delivered.” She said to give it until 5 a.m. and if it still wasn't out to call her back. I ran home to warm up and got back a little after 5 and still no placenta.

The vet and her husband had to get up, pack up their equipment, for not only Magic but for their day, and drive about 45 minutes to us. I think they arrived before 7 but it's a bit of a blur by this point since I had been awake 24 hours straight by then.

Despite her best efforts, the vet eventually had to use oxytocin to get Magic's uterus to “cramp” and help deliver the retained placenta. The vet still had to manually assist as well. (Trust me, you did not want pictures or video of this process.)

She did show me the placenta afterwards and I share it here because of the educational value.

Tails of Fyre:  Newborn foal retained placenta

Essentially everything looked healthy except the part on the left. Each part that you see has significance and was something the vet looked at closely.

You can see the darkness, as opposed to the brighter red, and striations on the part on the far left. The vet also said the smell was less than pleasant. So, Magic got some antibiotics that day and for 5 days afterwards to stop and prevent infection.

Creation of a Name: Sparks=Wildfyre.

I had pondered a few different names, and really wanted 1) to meet the foal first and 2) the name to at least have some reference to the experience that brought about his/her existence.

I had seen two references to the old Michael Martin Murphey song Wildfire a few months before he was born. But it seemed so cliche' and I never name my horses anything cliche'. I feel like their names should speak to their soul and essence.

He was sassy from the very beginning. The vets called him a “spitfire” when they were handling him that first morning. Then I saw the word WildFYRE in my mind. And I knew that was it.

Sparks did fly the day Magic and Ankh met. It truly was a wildfire love. Even the colt's star marking looked like a tree to me.

So, instead of Wildfire, he became Wildfyre. Fyre for short.

Tails of Fyre

I have fallen in love with his tail. The lighter palomino with a stripe of the golden red color.

Tails of Fyre:  Newborn Foal tail

Seemed appropriate for me to name the series about him: Tails of Fyre. And this first installment is Newborn Foal.

Stay tuned for the next update. And tell me what you think about all this in the comments. 🙂

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