10/10/2022
On Saturday we honored a boarding guest of ours by making her a Hero Dog. Cassie is a sweet, personable K-9 that we at Steele Away Acres has had the pleasure of taking care of for the many years. She is one of those dogs that I can have out when people come to the farm because she is so easy going.
One day we had a Hero working at the barn on her PTSD issues which she had struggled with for 15 years. She had tried everything. Counselling, group, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Cognitive Therapy & Prolonged Exposure as well as EMDR. And yet she just felt like she wasn't getting anywhere.
Note, that after our Heroes have travelled that long road to recovery they know the lingo and science as well as the doctors who treat them.
So she turned to the Hero Barn which is a self healing tool that utilizes a horses ability to mirror a persons emotional state 100% thereby giving the individual with the horse a view of their current emotional state. This gives the Hero an opportunity to address it immediately and recover from the stressful moment, anxieties and fears. The Heroes goal is to protect the horse. That means if you see the horse is scared you must calm it and the only way to do that is to calm yourself.
To do this they tell the horse their story in as much detail as they can. These Heroes are prepared for this by teaching them horsemanship skills. That means they can safety handle a horse and its many unpredictability's and they know horse body language better than most horse owners. That is what we do....the rest of the healing is between the hero and the horse as we are not doctors and give no advise or counselling. We speak about the horse.
Anyway....on this one day our Hero was here working with Geronimo. She left the barn having put the horse back into the pasture looking frustrated and upset to find Cassie laying outside the barn office in the sun. The Hero plopped herself down on the ground and proceeded to pet her and speak to her about her frustrations.
"Hi Girl. I just can't do this anymore. I quit. This is ridiculous. I just can't get through my story." said the Hero.
Cassie who had been sitting up getting pets and cuddles proceeded to lay back down and looked away from the Hero.
"What!...bad idea? Don't get all pissy with me. You don't have to approve dog." she said as Cassie turned her head still down and glanced at her momentarily.
The Hero continued to try to justify her giving up to the dog. Cassie didn't act all that amused as the Hero told me.
Then the Hero said that something happened that almost made her believe the dog understood what was going on. Cassie placed her paw on the Heroes leg who was seated on the ground next to her. Cassie continued to look away.
The Hero said it was as if she was saying "Lady, I can't help you, but I feel for you. Don't give up, it makes me sad."
The Hero then said to Cassie "I know, I know. I need to put on my big girl panties and get back to work. I know I can do this." Cassie then sat up and moved close into the hero resting her head on her shoulder and stealing some licks, tail wagging and then she bounced around in a circle.
The Hero said to Cassie "Yes!!, Yes.....OK, lets do it.!"
The Hero then walked back into the barn and snatched up our mini Mule. Yes Justice is one stubborn creature and if you can get him to go around the arena without putting on the breaks it is a miracle.
At this point having over heard part of the conversation between Cassie and the Hero, and watching the Hero march back into the barn I got up from my chair to watch.
I almost said something about her selection of the mule but kept quiet. She proceeded to halter him, pet him for a few minutes and then she walked slowly around the arena whispering her story to him. I watched as she appeared to be getting a little emotional and the Mule confirmed it firmly. He put on the breaks and backed away very quickly. I picked up a crop just incase I needed to rescue her from a possible kicking session.
The Hero dropped to her knees with one arm stretched out in the direction of the Mule holding only about two inches of that lead tightly in her hand. She cried, she prayed and she kept breathing and as she got quieter Justice the Mule stopped pulling and within just a few minutes slowly made his way back to the Hero as she stood up, pet him and she walked around the arena two more times and left the barn with a huge smile.
I don't normally ask much when the Heroes come but on this day I did ask if she was alright and she said "I am Awesome and I owe it to silly dog Cassie. It was almost like she disapproved on my quittin' attitude and then confirmed I finally made a good decision when I decided to go back in and continue the work. She did it." the Hero said as she pointed at the Cassie.
So Cassie is being honored for her impact on this Hero and many wonderful greetings and hugs she gets and gives to the Heroes that visit our barn. We love you Cassie, you couldn't be a better dog.
Please note this entire story was shared with the permission of the Hero and it was she that walked to a photo of another Hero dog in the barn and said "Cassie is also a Hero." We agree.
