Sunday, 20 July 2008

Catching or being given permission?

I have been wondering whether perhaps my blog is the cause of frustration for Welsh language browsers. I have called it 'Ceffylau' but it contains no Welsh. Perhaps there are lots of Welsh people searching for 'ceffylau' (horses) in the hope of finding something interesting in their own language, yet if they come across my blog it is in English. So I have decided to address this by posting some pages (or parts of pages) in both languages. I apologise in advance for my poor Welsh! Please feel free to correct me. I'm only a learner.

I do not catch Dee every day at the moment - while she is in the field all the time with our yard in quarantine - just several times a week in order to groom her. Whenever I halter her now, I approach her and then simply stand holding the halter open for her and she puts her nose in. This simple connection is so heart-warming and I am amazed that I have owned her for over three years and only just discovered we could do this.

It occurred to me . . . do we ever really 'catch' a horse? Isn't it that whenever we put a halter on a horse to bring them in from the field it is because they have decided to allow this? Could we ever get near enough to do this if they didn't want us to? Surely a horse being 'caught' is their decision to want to be with us and has very little to do with our actually ability to 'catch' them. This slight shift in view is somewhat revolutionary for me and is starting to seep through the habitual patterning of my interaction with horses. I am looking forward to when I am able to start riding again to discover whether Dee continues with this behaviour when having a halter put on her may be the precursor to work.

Dw i wedi meddwl bod fallai mae fy mlog i yn creu teimlad o rwystredigaeth dros porwr gwe iaith Gymraeg. Dw i wedi ei enwi 'Ceffylau' ond dydy e ddim yn cynnwys Cymraeg. Fallai mae llawer o bobl Cymru pwy sy'n chwilio am 'ceffylau' i ffeindio pethau diddorol am eu iaith. Os maen nhw'n ffeindio fy mlog i ydy e'n ysgrifennu yn Saesneg. Felly dw i wedi penderfynu i postio tudalennau (neu rhannau o dudalennau) yn Cymraeg a Saesneg. Dw i'n ymddiheuro ymlaen llaw am Gymraeg anghywir! Cywirwch i fi os gwelwch i'n dda. Dw i'n dim ond dysgwr.

Dw i ddim yn dal Dee pob dydd ar y foment - ers mae hi'n yn y maes yn wastad tra ein stablau sy'n cwaranten - dim ond sawl gwaith yn yr wythnos i'w brwsio. Pan dw i'n dodi i hi ei halter nawr, dw i'n ei gadael ac hi'n dodi ei trwyn i mewn. Maen hyfryd. Dw i wedi meddu Dee am tair blynedd, ac dim ond gynnau fod i wedi sylwddoli bod ni'n gallu gwneud hwn.

Dw i wedi bod yn meddwl . . . dyn ni'n gallu dal ceffly dweud y gwir? Ydw i'n gallu dodi halter ar ceffyl i'w dod o'r maes achos yr ceffyl yn penderfynu i gydweithio? Faswn ni ddim yn gallu dod agos ceffyl os dydy e ddim yn happus? Mae e'n syniad chwyldroadol i fi. Mae e'n syniad bod yn dechrau i newid fy arferion am gweithio gyda ceffylau. Dwi'n edrych ymlaen i marchogaeth eto. Fyddi hi'n ymarweddu fel hwn o hyd pan dw i eisau ei ddal i waith?

6 comments:

Victoria Cummings said...

I think that horses always allow us to do what we do - whether it's from trust or fear - If they didn't want to, they are certainly strong enough and big enough and fast enough to not let us. It does take time to win trust and three years has been enough to open a new door for Dee. It's very exciting. Meanwhile, on a different note, some of us are playing summer games in the blogosphere - I've tagged you, so if you want to join in, please stop by and take a look.

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

I love that you are Buddhist and you work with horses. I'll be interested to see if your demeanor, influenced by your beliefs, has a positive affect on the horse. I'll bet it does.

My husband introduced me to Buddhism 25 years ago. We both enjoyed studying it and bought rare books on the subject. He has kept up with it in small steps independently. I only occasionally recall the philosophies and use them to better my life.

Nor’dzin said...

Unfortunately any benefit of demeanour I may have as a practising Buddhist is probably outweighed by my lack of expertise! Nevertheless I do believe a meditative approach is understood by horses. Thanks for stopping by.

Grey Horse Matters said...

I didn't know that ceffylau was Welsh for horse. It's nice to learn something new each day. I'm sure your calm demeanor has a little to do with how your horse behaves towards you. Horses have a sense about people and I'm sure she trusts you to always be kind and do right by her, and so she does allow you to 'catch' her. I'm sure she has formed a special bond with you.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

I trotted over here from Nuzzling Muzzles blog.

I love what you wrote about horses permitting human to catch them. Because it's true that we humans must earn their respect before they trust us enough to just let us control them so easily.

My horse is a very trusting horse and, like you I feel honored that she allows me to easily halter. She, too just slips her own head into the halter for me. And I've never had to chase her. She always comes to me when called, or even when she just sees me.
It's amazing to have that kind of trust and bond with such a huge powerful animal, isn't it?

I'm sorry for my ignorance, but when I first started reading your posts, I read something about lamas...and immediately thought you had some! hehe You see, I have two Llamas (the furry kind) and just adore them.
Do people in your area keep llamas?

Oh and I love the name of your blog. Clever and brilliant!

Nor’dzin said...

Yes folks do sometimes keep llamas over here. Thanks for stopping by.