Dec. 15, 2011 Newsletter

Cisco is my black and white Tennessee Walker. I purchased Cisco almost 6 years ago from a lady who rescued him from her next door neighbor who was starving him, along with the rest of their horses. This neighbor of hers had several horses and they would breed and have colts every year. They were even registered. When I went to look at Cisco the first time I saw the neighbor's horses. They didn't look much more than skeletons with hide over them. The lady I purchased Cisco from told me that she had always liked Cisco's personality and so had decided to buy him to rescue him.

Cisco was 7 when I bought him. So he spent the first 7 years of his life with barely enough to eat to stay alive. Today, Cisco is like a little butterball. I have trouble keeping the weight off of him. The interesting thing is that, after all this time of plenty to eat, he still acts like he is starving and not getting enough to eat. He can come in off of the pasture and he will be scrounging around for any tidbit of hay that might be left. He will be going through every stall looking for any morsel that someone else may have left behind. At feeding time he 'attacks' his hay bag like he is starving to death, even if he just came in from eating grass for a couple of hours.

I have another horse, Onyx, who I just purchased a couple of months ago, with the plan being she would be another lesson horse. Onyx is a registered Paint who lost her mother at birth, or shortly after birth, and so she grew up as an orphan. I was told that from a very young age Onyx always had to fight for her food as apparently she was raised in a herd like environment.

Even though I shut Onyx in her stall at feeding time, she still 'fights' for her food. She is in her stall by herself where no other horse can get to her food. Yet she consistently lays her ears back and slings her head from side to side as if to say, "get away from my food". She will take a bite or two of food and then be slinging her head to both sides to defend her food. Yet there is no reason to defend it. No other horse can get close to it. She even acts like that to my 2 dogs and my cats. The good thing is, I can walk in the stall with her when she is eating, and thankfully she doesn't act that way with people.

Onyx and Cisco's behaviors are no longer needed here, they no longer serve them, yet they continue to do them. Their behaviors are the result of earlier 'programming' in their lives. Early 'programming' that formed beliefs in them such as 'there is never enough' or 'someone will always try and take what you have'.

People are no different. Many people are still living everyday with beliefs that no longer serve them, as a result of 'programming' from earlier in their lives. Programming that has created beliefs such as: 'I'm not good enough', 'money is the root of all evil', 'I don't deserve it', 'there will never be enough', 'I have to be perfect', . . . . . The list can go on and on.

What about you? What behaviors or beliefs do you have that no longer serve you, that are the result of earlier programming?

You have a choice. You can decide what beliefs and behaviors you would like to have.

I wish I could tell Cisco and Onyx, "You don't need to act like that anymore. It is just a belief. A belief that is no longer true for you."

But I can tell you!