Meet Herbie, the resident rascal of Red Earth Brumbies. Herbie was originally caught by LLS and sent to The New England Brumby Sanctuary where he made friends with a volunteer who has since moved down to work with us.
It was through the transport of Herbie, his Mum and Rocky that the idea of Red Earth Brumbies was planted. Rhiannan became close friends with Jess who volunteered up at the Armidale Sanctuary at the time and who wrote the below poem one cool Armidale morning.
Over the coming months their friendship blossomed as more Brumbies needed transporting to and from the sanctuary.
Rhiannan's Daughter fell in love with Herbie and claimed him as hers and so he became the first brumby to call this place home.
In the past 12 months the need for a place here in Coffs to bring the brumbies to, to be vetted and rehomed became apparent. And so Red Earth Brumbies was formed. Hope you enjoy the poem as much as we do.
The Corindi Grey Colt
She wandered over to the yards ready to start feed up and in them, there was a tiny little grey colt brumby from Corindi Beach. He had been in a slumber alongside a huge Guy Fawkes mare, standing side by side with the big steel panel between them and he startled upon the woman’s approach. He did his usual dance around and snort as she tossed hay out for everyone.
On a whim, she squeezed through the panels and into his yard, murmuring softly to him gentle words of encouragement. He bolted past her up to the other end and spun around to face her, eyes wide, body tense, quivering and geared for flight again. She took a step forward, crouched down on one knee and waited. His tiny little ears flickered backward and forward, alternating, and she could see his mind ticking over as he thought about this completely different situation.
Still unsure, the little colt found some courage and took a small step forward. The woman let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. He licked and chewed in response. Again she brought her focus to her breath, slowing and steadying it. The colt took another step forward and then another. He was within arm’s reach now and yet the woman still made no moves. She could see his curiosity come out as the natural instinct to flee faded from his body. She watched out of her peripheral vision as he let out a huge breath and took one last step forward, reaching his soft gentle nose out to her.
He breathed on her, whiskers tickling her face, exploring in the most kindest and gentlest of ways. She breathed on him, together their breaths mingling, scents exchanged and in the intricate language that is Equus a bond begins to form. The foundation of this bond is trust and without it, neither side can play their part in this relationship.
The woman goes through several moments of panic as she allows the fears of others to drive her mind. “He’s a colt, don’t ever let your guard down with them” “watch he doesn’t bite you” “You can never trust a colt”. All these thoughts and more start to bubble up to the surface as the little Corindi Grey traces patterns across her forehead with his whiskers. She feels her vulnerability kick in and for a moment the fears move into overdrive. She forces herself to stay still, calm and drop back into her place of love, her heart space.
Not once does he show any signs of wanting to hurt her, rather he just really wants to get to know her. She reaches out and allows him to explore her hand, then he finds her knee, her boots, and her jacket where he lingers with some pressure, resting his head in her chest.
By this time her legs are burning from the position she is crouching in and her ankle feels like it’s going to break so she shifts weight onto the opposite leg slowly but purposefully. She expects the colt to race off in a panic but he doesn’t, he merely follows her movements with his nose and once she’s repositioned herself he returns to the deep breathing and exploration of her face.
She feels her skin on her forehead come alive as his whiskers move across it and she realizes there is a deep energetic exchange going on. She begins to notice a pattern to his exploration. Right nostril, then left, then back again. Even the energy in the breath within each nostril feels slightly different and she now becomes aware of a gentle humming vibration surrounding them.
She reaches up and gently strokes the underside of his neck. He leans in as his eye partially closes and she begins to feel his enjoyment envelop them like a soft mist. “You are so beautiful” she whispers to him as tears begin to roll down her face.
They stay like this, face to face, energies entwined, sharing each other’s breath as time stands still and all else is lost to the little grey colt and his newfound friend. All that matters is this moment right now, this connection and not even her burning body is felt anymore.
And then, as if someone had clicked their fingers the deep energy shifted and the colt slowly took a step back away from her and then moved around her to go back to his hay. No more whites in his eyes, no more darting around with high energy, just a deep content calm.
She wiped her tears away as she straightened up and sent a mental thank you out to the Universe for allowing such magic to enter her life. With her heart full she left the yards and headed back toward her home, carrying the Colt in her soul and leaving a piece of her with his.
Comments