[Heinz 57]

A purely anecdotal, lighthearted reporting of what exactly transpired. Not intended to cause any sort of debate.

On a whim, I decided to set up an appointment with an "animal communicator" located in my state. She was having a "special", making it affordable enough for me to say what the hey, let's hear what the animals have to say. I did my best not to give any leads or reactions, all we started with was a name and color - and mostly let her tell me what she was seeing or hearing. I was skeptical at the beginning of the call but not closed-minded, feeling a little silly for doing this but still slightly curious as to what might come about anyway. So, here's what came about:
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She talked briefly with a previous horse (Red) of mine before the big guy, another previous horse after that (Honeybear) and then the baby and Mr. Heinz' mare, but this is the most substantive reading:

She found the big guy, who was sort of my underlying motive for the call. She said he seemed very kind, but is a bit of a worry wart and watches everything and everyone around him. She also mentioned that she saw some tension and uneasiness in his stomach. He told her he doesn't like surprises, or loud noises, they make him nervous and worried. He also doesn't like small children running around at all. I asked about how he felt, if he had any pain anywhere - and she described to me in great detail a soreness in his right shoulder, specifically in a particular area (around the humeral joint, radiating, not the elbow though), and said he was showing her the last footfall of the right lead, the step where the RF is fully weight-bearing - and that that was when it was most painful. Pulling the knee up and forward makes it hurt also, and that bodywork or laser therapy would potentially help, pulling the knee down and backward also helped it feel better. He's also very tight at the base of the neck on the right side and generally muscle-stiff all over - and that he stands very still often because of it. He was also showing her that he would like his LF lower leg, especially around the tendons, rubbed, and that while he would not understand it at first, would enjoy and benefit from a facial massage.

We briefly discussed his lack of barn name and he did tell her he would really like to have one. Something warm and fuzzy that would give him happy feelings when he hears it. I mentioned that he was called Moose before, and he told her that it was a derogatory name and he didn't like it at all. He showed her that he sort of shuts himself down, but not in a nasty way, just tries not to feel - and doesn't know how to relax. Going to work makes him tense.

I asked if there was a particular job he enjoyed doing, and he immediately showed her some small jumps, with a happy feeling, and then some very BIG jumps, but said that landing from jumps hurt the sore shoulder. He also mentioned that he likes the discipline and control of dressage, but not as much as the jumps. She couldn't tell if he was indicating that he *had* jumped really big jumps, or that he would like to, just that he kept showing them to her and was very happy about them.

I indicated that there was a period of his history that I could not account for, and asked if he had anything to share about that time. He showed her a rope halter with knots and a girl doing a lot of yanking on his face, which made him very confused. He also showed her some sort of gaming-type activity where he was in an enclosed arena being asked to move at speed around obstacles, and that he did not understand why they expected him to go so fast in such a small area, he was too big to move like that and that running was only supposed to happen in open spaces. He showed her that this time in his life was very frustrating and boring for him.

She saw that he was very athletic and a nice mover, in spite of the sore shoulder. She said she kept getting the feeling that if we worked out the shoulder issue and tightness in his body, that he could really do a lot, athletically speaking. He also mentioned later that he was worried that the new kid was going to become my main focus and that I wouldn't be "his person" anymore. He told her likes the new kid, but doesn't really know how to interact with him when he tries to play.

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So, there you have it.

[Appsolute]

Well, DOES your horse have a sore shoulder? Has a vet confirmed this?

Personally - I just do not believe that horses understand the english lanuage to the point that they would feel insulted by being called Moose!

I am just too rational.

[Heinz 57]

Well, DOES your horse have a sore shoulder? Has a vet confirmed this?

Personally - I just do not believe that horses understand the english lanuage to the point that they would feel insulted by being called Moose!

I am just too rational.

Like I said, just a fun reporting of the conversation. I don't want to get into arguments or debates about whether or not horses "speak english" or if it's all a crock of horse sh!t.

As for the shoulder, he has not been examined by a vet in about a year. I can attest that he has indicated soreness in that area before, however.

[deltawave]

Sounds like the requisite "hot buttons" were pushed.

[Heinz 57]

Hey, I just thought it was a fun story. I didn't have any expectations and wasn't attempting to use the AC as a lameness exam or to "fix" any problems. I just wanted to see what she'd say they had to say.

[Equibrit]

Can you confirm or deny any of what she said ?

[Heinz 57]

Can you confirm or deny any of what she said ?

Call me crazy, but yes, I can confirm. And there is nothing I can deny, between the 5 different horses that "spoke" to her. The shoulder issue will be interesting to explore - I have a massage appointment for him shortly and will be interested to see if the bodyworker finds what the communicator described (without telling her, of course).

[TBDressage916]

I love this stuff, real or not I think it's really entertaining! Sounds like you need to come up with a cute barn name!

[deltawave]

Did the horse not have a preference for its own name? What did his mom call him?

[Gryhrs]

I love this stuff, real or not I think it's really entertaining! Sounds like you need to come up with a cute barn name!

I'm with TB on this one!!

[runNjump86]

How about Bear? Short for Teddy Bear?

Warm, fuzzy, and gag-worthy. Kidding!!

I used to use a chiropractor in IL that was an animal communicator, but she didn't advertise because she didn't want to be discredited. She was a damn good chiro, and she told me some things about my dog and a mare I was riding at the time that had me go "Damn".

[Juxtapoze]

Heinz - this really made me smile. Thanks for sharing!

I do believe some people have a gift for intuition + greater powers of observation than the norm. I listened to the local Communicator do a reading for my former lease horse's owner. Some of the things she said were pretty "duh" obvious, a few things missed the mark, and with some enlightened insight as well. She did note a bad neck strain in another horse at the barn who had been off and even the vet had missed that. After daily massage for a few weeks, the horse improved greatly.

My own massage therapist has a lot of training with alternate medicine. After dealing with some lengthy lameness issues with my own horse and finally being in the clear, I went to see her to get the kinks out of my shoulders. She said I had been carrying a heavy burden. I briefly told her about my horse's issues and she told me things about my horse that made my jaw drop, they were so spot on. The best thing she said was, "Your horse wants you not to worry about him anymore". Take it for what it's worth but it really resonated with me.

I don't think it's a "psychic" thing - just a more heightened emotional, tactile and/or visual perceptiveness.

[eponacowgirl]

I've had three horses read. 2 by one communicator, and 1 by another.

All three horses have "told" me things that helped clear up a mystery lameness/there is no way she could have known/no one had any clue about but vet/chiro/massage therapist confirmed within 12 hours.

Lots of things were generic "horoscope" things that could be applied in anyway to any horse.

But... there were enough things that were Spot. On...

[fooler]

Thanks for sharing Heinz. Let us know what the massage therapist tells you.

For the record, my mare understands the english language far better than many humans, as attested to by more than one trainer and vet.

[Heinz 57]

Did the horse not have a preference for its own name? What did his mom call him?

To be honest, I did not ask about previous names, so while you're joking, I can't answer that question. He just said he wanted a happy name, something that would make him feel happy when he hears it.

runNjump...ironically, the first name that popped into my head when she said that was Teddy. Were you reading my mind? I did ask him about the name tonight, but I'm not exactly sure I got a response.

In all seriousness, we are going to check out the shoulder for soreness. I did another serious scritchy-rub session with him tonight and he was ever-so-grateful, wiggly lip and all. The winter gunk from being blanketed all the time makes him really, really itchy.

[Justa Bob]

Teddy works! Warm and fuzzy. Thanks for great 'reporting.' I love this stuff too for entertainment value. Your report is very similar to the animal communicator in Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley. There were lots of fun snippets from the horse's streaming. It was explained not as words so much as pictures. Names did get associated to words - as in the horse liking to have a good name!

[Heinz 57]

Teddy works! Warm and fuzzy. Thanks for great 'reporting.' I love this stuff too for entertainment value. Your report is very similar to the animal communicator in Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley. There were lots of fun snippets from the horse's streaming. It was explained not as words so much as pictures. Names did get associated to words - as in the horse liking to have a good name!

This is how it sounded to me. She frequently said he was showing her things - an arena with poles in it, jumps, the rope halter he didn't like, the arena with the obstacles, the spot on his shoulder that was sore and how to make it feel better...and so on. Which is why I don't think it's about whether or not horses "speak english" per se - as silly as it sounds, it sounded more like a sharing of thoughts (pictures, concepts) and memories than a spoken conversation like you'd have with a person.

[Kryswyn]

I've had a couple of experiences with communicators. The last involved a beloved JRT who had a mysterious illness. Although the dog did indicate she knew something was wrong with her, it didn't bother her and she wanted to continue competing, in her words, "I want to go out a champion." What that dog DID do was tell the communicator that my [I]other[I] dog was dying and that dog's biggest worry was that she was desperately unhappy that she was going to make me sad when she passed. I passed the message to her, that while I would miss her terribly, we'd had wonderful times together and that when it was time she should tell me and I'd send her to the Bridge to be with her mom.

At that moment, dog #2 came into the room, jumped up on the couch (displacing dog #1 - a rare occurance) snuggled into my lap and gave me a kiss and wagged her tail.

Two months later dog #1 was champion in her event. Less than a month later, both dogs were gone. but I felt much better.

[Sedona]

I am often skeptical of psychics and the like. To be frank, I still am a bit of a skeptic. But there is a woman that my trainer has known and taught for many years. And she communicates. Mostly I get the feel that she is largely empathic. But she also asks them questions. They can offer up information, but if there is something specific we'd like to know, she can ask. The process is interesting to watch.

Personally I had her visit my horse one day. She had never met me or my horse before. And I highly doubt my trainer gave her any information prior to my visit. I was told that Kiss was very happy in her new place. She liked being outside more and having things to do. She was on daytime only turnout at my old barn versus about 20 hour+ turnout at the new stable. I asked if she enjoyed her new job as she's an OTTB. Kiss replied that she did, but was confused sometimes. Heck I sure know I was confused myself as we were both learning something new. But the thing that really got me. Was that the communicator offered up that Kiss enjoyed our quiet time. When I get around people, I get really loud she said. The woman had never met me to know that I am loud person. She certainly didn't know about my recent discovery of cuddle time with Kiss. My previous horses weren't cuddlers. She also told me that Kiss and I were a perfect match. It's something that was quite obvious to me but nice to hear. She also sometimes gets names from horses. Kiss told her Mona. Sure like Mona Lisa, but I am pretty happy with Kiss as her name! She'll have to settle with "Momma" not that she's ever foaled...

But that's just my one reading. There is also the story if our stable's pony, Pockets. He was a grouchy little Quarter Pony from the start. He'd school all the new kids without a question. Ok maybe he'd pause to sneak a little grass, but otherwise he was a stinker. He'd pin his ears at you on the ground. One day my trainer had the communicator go talk to Pockets. He told her that he wished he had a person. He had always been a school pony, and he'd just like someone. So one day my trainer's daughter-in-law told him that she was his person. But he still had to help around at the farm. That pony has been a delight to handle ever since.

Another story was of my trainer's daughter-in-law's current horse. He's a 19 year old OTTB with plenty of training in Eventing and Hunting. But this past show season, he had become a pill. Her last show with him, he was dishonest and refused a jump in stadium just to go beautifully over something in the warm up ring. This wasn't his first refusal, but basically her last straw so she asked for the communicator to come out and speak to him. His response to his nastiness was that he knew all of that stuff and didn't need to do it anymore. Her husband told him he would to it anyhow, and the damn horse stepped on him! He has since been retired to a hunt horse as he is an absolute ANGEL in the hunt field.

Finally my last story. Congrats if you made it this far. But this communicator spoke over the phone with a former student of my trainer's and a hardcore skeptic. The first horse the communicator spoke about unprompted was of a horse that had passed away. The woman burst into tears over the phone as she was obviously calling in reference to another horse.

I also have a chiro that communicates. I think he's more empathic than a communicator. But he gave me some insight to my horse at the time. He told me that she was quite smart (I know we all think our horse is the smartest ever, but my girl is quite intelligent!) and to be careful with her intelligence. She can buffalo. What horse can't? He also told me of how sensitive she is and to try to think of what I want her to do. Sometimes I am quite sure she has read my mind.

Honestly the way I see the whole communicator thing is that it's neat. Sometimes it provides you with a different way of looking at things. The woman we often use to communicate also suggests good strategies for training. She says that they like when you tell them what you plan to do for the day. It builds trust as long as you stick to the plan. It doesn't have up be detailed or anything.

I often try to be around when she comes to visit because she almost always has something neat to say. Right now I am chomping at the bit for her next visit because I have some questions.

Realistically had I not experienced her first hand and gotten such praise from my old school, tough cookie trainer, I would never believe in such silliness as a horse communicator. But this woman has me as a believer. I am still quite skeptical of others that claim it. I suppose it's a seeing is believing thing. Plus she doesn't charge anything to communicate. Big deal in my book!

[TBPONY]

I love animal communicators. I've had a few "meh" experiences and a few experiences that made my jaw drop. I'm glad you shared your story!

Suggestions for light, warm and fuzzy barn names:
Teddy
Jazzy
Zippy
Happy
Jolly
Lollipop
Jerry
Sunny