My current equine anatomy field assignment is to "Find horses with some kind of injury (old or new), get a verbal history from owner or trainer. The injury needs to be something palpable such as a scar, lumpy joint, bump etc. Take vitals, write description of injury based on input from owner/trainer, include how old it is and how it happened, take photos of the injury. Write brief paragraph detailing your own description and observation of the injury using anatomical descriptive terms and surface landmarks from this course."
Luckily, none of our guys fit the bill, so I asked for candidates through FB and I also emailed acquaintances. Julie, who had helped my tremendously with Saumur in our early days, responded and offered some residents of her barn as case studies. Julie is a true horsewoman, she combines dressage with natural horsemanship, and also works with kids that have special needs. I met Trinity, an amazing 12 year old girl with a very traumatic history (seven foster homes until she found adoptive parents willing and able to deal with a myriad of severe issues stemming from fetal alcohol syndrome and abuse; mom died in jail).
Trinity owns Tiger Lilly, a lovely 14.3 hand pony. Julie explained to me how much Tiger Lilly has helped Trinity to overcome a lot of her issues. I just loved talking with Trinity and also watching her lesson. Seeing the pure joy in both of them made my day. And: High Five, Trinity (and Julie and Tiger Lilly), those were some really nice half-passes!
Tiger Lilly and Sally, a very nice Mustang mare, were excellent case studies for the assignment and I look forward to having them being part of my fieldwork practice. I will also do a Bladder Meridian workshop for Julie's students, which should be fun.
Most of all though, I am very grateful that my course assignment allowed me to meet some true everyday heroes.
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