Greece Diary, Part Seven: Regressing

When I was a kid my walls were plastered with posters from PONY magazine. My ceiling (I had a bunk bed) was stuck with newspaper cuttings of racehorses. Essentially, I was horse-crazy. In Greece, I could feel that same single-minded obsession resurfacing.

That's me in the volunteer room after having discovered Parelli. I found these boxes on the bookshelf. I'd heard of Parelli back in my PONY magazine days but I'd never really known what it was. Over the next few days I devoured the books of the level one course. Parelli is all about approaching a horse as if you are a horse - not quite literally, but behaving in a similar way so that you can understand your horse, and it can understand you, better. It was a revelation. The more I read, the more I realised how much people in the UK casually neglect their horses without realising. Our attitude is so outdated. I've been guilty of it too. People inadvertently treat horses like cars ... forgetting they're animals who don't exist solely for our amusement.

This is me with Ira, one of the two regular-sized ponies who live on the farm. I was lucky enough to get to practise a few of the Parelli games with her. In the morning on our final day I worked with her a lot until we were actually starting and stopping in unison, without any commands. It's amazing how easily you can get onto the same wavelength as a horse once you actually try. Amanda was telling me about how she ran about with Piros until he started to treat her too much like another stallion - play-fighting with her! - the moral of which is don't get too playful with stallions! I genuinely felt like I connected with Ira and got a little bit giddy about it. It was such a good end to my experience with horses in Greece.

And here again is my baby Orfeas. I loved this little guy so much I officially adopted him. When I return in June I'm hoping to do some Parelli with him as Amanda suggested and maybe even complete level one. He won't be such a baby then and will probably be much more comfortable around people! I doubt he'll remember me, but I haven't forgotten him. :)

I became so horse-mad when I was in Greece that when I returned to the UK I enrolled on a distance-learning course in Equine Behavioural Psychology, so now I'm learning about equine behaviour in the wild and in domestic environments, and even more about the casual neglect that causes so many problems. I've even begun to think that I might complete my English degree and then just go into equine welfare.

Next time... Hello, Goodbye (Or: Unexpected Births and a Farewell to Greece)