By R.T. Fitch ~ Excerpt from “Straight from the Horses Heart: A Spiritual Ride through Love, Loss and Hope“
Last night, July 3rd 2005, I entered Terry’s office to shut down the computer prior to heading for bed. Everyone else was tucked away and I was just doing the last minute security sweep when my eyes caught the bright glare of a fireworks rocket heading for the stars in the northern sky. When it reached it’s predestined point of suicide, it erupted into a brilliant display of red and blue stars cascading downward across the acres of millet that separate us from a distant subdivision. I walked closer to the window when, suddenly, the noise of the explosion reached our farm. BOOM! As the sound trailed off, another took its place -the thunder of hooves. The horses were freaked.
I ran out the back door and looked over our compound’s rear fence. I could just make out, by the glow of the barn’s back security light, a multi-colored, many legged mass working up and down the back fence. The boys were NOT happy.
I called them, jumped the fence, and began to whistle the comforting dinner whistle. Although they slowed, they would not come any closer as I was several feet nearer to the terrifying sight and noise. Continuing to walk towards the moving mass of fur, feet, and ears, I knew that there were a few bulging eyes in that mess. The darkness, however, covered the evidence.
As I neared, Apache, the tough little Brazilero, peeled off from the herd and planted himself in the middle of the pasture staring at the source of the commotion. I let him be as he was making his statement that he was tough, cool, and the big man on the farm. Standing at only 14.3 hands, he suffers from chronic short man syndrome. Again, I whistled, as I planted myself next to the back fence. I was particularly careful that in the dark I not touch the electrified rope that keeps the boys away from that single strand of my neighbors barbed cow wire. I only had on sandals and touching that now would result in all five hairs on my head sticking straight up. That would surely terrify Terry when I finally made it to the bedroom.
Apache stood his ground and, in the dim light, I could both see and feel two Thoroughbreds, one Appaloosa and a little Mustang mix headed right towards me in full gallop. It was a pretty sight, but rather disconcerting as I failed to bring out any protection – not even a lead. I hollered “WHOA” and walked towards them. They split up and in an instant I was surrounded by heavy breathing and horse noses tapping me on the shoulder and the back of the head. Harley steamed up my glasses as he wanted to verify my identity.
As the horses milled about me, I listened and watched as their individual personalities materialized both to my eyes and to my ears. Ethan instantly became brave with me standing beside him. He planted himself firmly on the ground looking in the direction of the fireworks with his ears pointed forward – a virtual pillar of strength. Should I move, however, he would too and not allow the gap between us to be any greater than just a few feet. Of course, that was not due to fear, but rather comradeship.
Then there was Harley, slowly circling and finally standing behind myself and Ethan. Although he wants all to believe that he is the toughest and the greatest, he will gladly give over the title of Pasture King to anyone who will take it in a time of crisis.
Big nervous Bart continued to pace the fence line with the little Mustang baby carefully tucked between him and the fence. Little Pele kept peeking over Bart’s back to see what I was going to do to make the fiery noisy monsters go away.
I calmly leaned over, reached to the earth and jerked up a handful of grass as if I was grazing. I kept this process up as I drifted further and further away from the back fence. The notion that I was calm enough to graze pulled all of the horses to me, with the exception of Apache. He was firm in his stance. As the horses calmly came around me, I heard the whispers and the soft gentle sounds of expression that I have learned to love. They come so rarely, but when they do, it is so special. I listened and did not cloud their words with my inquiries.
“What are those things?” panted little Pele. “I have never, ever, seen anything like that. Do they eat horses?”
“We don’t think so.” answered Harley, “But we are safe now that Grey Mane is out here.”
“We were safe long before he ever showed up,” countered Ethan. “The fact that he is here shows that they are a special thing and he is only here to help us learn from them.”
Bart replied, “Man, you’re smart. I thought that someone was shooting at us and that we were all doomed.”
Having enough of the chit-chat, Apache slowly turned his head and snorted, “You are ALL a bunch of sissies!” Then he laughed.
I laughed too and, when I did, they all turned to look at me; then at each other; and then at me again. It was truly a “Kodak Moment”. Those horses looked at each other, and then looked at me. You could clearly hear them say, “Does he hear us?” The look of shock and surprise was priceless.
Ethan moved away from the others and pressed his nose against my chest. “Yes he does. I forget this as it does not happen often, but I was the one that taught him to listen.”
Without giving away my secret, I stroked Ethan’s forehead, looked directly into his left eye and smiled. He put his left nostril into my right ear and exhaled, “And I hear you, too”, he said.
We then turned towards the north, standing behind Apache, and watched the fireworks: Ethan to my right; Harley to my left; Bart with his head over my right shoulder; and little Pele goosing me in the left kidney,
“Can I come in with you tonight dad? Please? Can I come in, huh, can I?”
I turned and petted his head, smiled and turned back to the display.
Five horses and one human watched in awe. None of us can tell you when it was all over; the night melted away and I do not know how or when I found my bed.
Happy 4th of July to You and Your Family – 2 legged or 4
Categories: The Force of the Horse
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Oh my goodness! Love that story! When you get to the point in a human/horse relationship, that you know what each other is feeling and thinking, it is very humbling and heartwarming. I love it. Happy 4th to you and yours!
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Awesome thoughts and words shared by man and horse , precious moments made to share !!!!!! May the wisdom and the thoughts of freedom for our MUSTANGS ring loud and clear and prevail !!!!!!!!! As intended in 1971 when the members of Congress and their wisdom and deemed the Beautiful magnificent Mustangs will have peace and harmony by the the LAW !!!!!!! As the Mustangs yearn for the land and the peace that belongs to them, may we find the courage to make it happen on this Independence Day 2013 !!!!!!!
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I understand now,,,i see the soul of the horses,,
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Beautiful story! Happy 4th to you and yours!
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This is for the folks on here from Colorado-about 6 weeks ago, I happen to take a wrong turn and ened up in a small parking lot to turn around and on a small hill was standing a statue of a Marine at parade rest. I told my husband “that is the most life like statue I had ever seen” and he agreed we watched for a minute and then the staute moved. My husband got out to talk to him, I noticed that there was a flag of every military branch there at half stalf.. After talking to him my huband found out (and neither of us had heard this): a couple of weeks earlier they dedicated a memorial to all fallen Colorado Military who died since the Spanish-American war. He is retired Marine Corp and he goes there every Saturday to stand guard voluntarily and hopes other retired Military will come also. My husband and I picked up two bunches of re-white-and blue carnations and put them at the memorial last night one for our fallen humans and one for our fallen animals. So if you want to visit this memorial and maybe know someone from Colorado who has given their life in the service of our country, today would be a nice day to visit.
Take Airport Road north to 6th avenue, east on 6th to first light or Telluride then north to the memorial.
I would like to thank everyone on this site who is or was in the Armed forces-for their service to our country-you will always be in our Hearts and Prayers. http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/05/26/emotional-day-as-colorado-freedom-memorial-dedicated-in-aurora/
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Just beautiful and I could picture it all in my mind reading it. You describing them in that field was so moving and having someone they knew to comfort them.
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Wonderful retelling of human and horse communication. Thank you for sharing and have a happy 4th.
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It’s Wonderful the connection between human and horse…Great story R.T….
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I have been blessed, as many of you have, with a “Spiritual” connection with animals. I can see and understand their feelings and fears. I can see what they’re thinking by simply looking into their eyes. I can feel the kinship. Dogs and Horses seem to be especially loving and loyal. They both gladly serve as our companions. They add years to our lifespan. They truly become an integral part of our lives.
We don’t give them nearly the love they give us. They give us purpose. We never truly know how much they mean to us until they leave this earth. Crossing the bridge. On May 24th I lost my heart dog. We’d been together as constant companions for 10 years…since he was 5 weeks old. He was “Granite”. He was my teacher. He taught me the true meaning of ‘kindred spirits’. Together we rescued “Czar”, a golden / irish setter mix, “Dash A Money Maker” (aka ‘Dash’) a sorrel QH, “Smokey” an appaloosa with a club foot,
and a colt I named Black Jack, a beautiful QH/POA mix.
Together we became a family. With all our individual issues we came together as a single unit. A mutual admiration society if you will. Medical issues have since forced me to find Dash, Smokey, and Black Jack a new home. I required they stay together and I was fortunate to find them a great loving family. I still go visit them with peppermints in hand.
Granite died in my arms of natural causes. Golden’s tend to live only 10 to 12 years. His ashes were scattered in a beautiful pond so he could swim…something he relished his whole life. I can go visit him and in fact may go today to visit him and the horses today.
The loss of Granite left a big hole in my heart and Czar took it really bad as well. He missed his buddy and looked for him everyday…watching, sniffing the air hoping he would return. We were both a mess so I went to the pound and found an abandoned Chocolate Labrador retriever. I think he’s about 18 months old and he’s really spry. We named him “Dodger” after the Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist…orphaned and abandoned kids.
Dodger has brought life back into this house. Czar and him get along great and he gives me a reason to get my fat butt out of this chair and go outside…away from this computer!
Our connections to our companion animals are strong and filled with love. How anyone could contemplate killing one (except in an emergency) is beyond me.
I don’t like people who don’t like animals.
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Dear Steve , I know what you feel i feel this everyday, I too had a dog a German Shepard named Ozzy he shared my Love and passion for the horses !!!!!! He loved them also ,they loved him , he passed 5 years ago at 14 yrs old the horses we would go to visit miss him also, he had a rich wonderful bond with them ……. loved your story ! Relate to it !!!!
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My favorite part of the story:
… Those horses looked at each other, and then looked at me. You could clearly hear them say, “Does he hear us?” … “Yes he does.”
Thank you R.T. and EVERYONE who do hear our horses and burros and for all that you do.
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A joy to read and visualize. As little as I know horses I understand what you are talking about.
Thank you for sharing this RT. Happy 4th to you and Terry and all the “kids.”
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A mustang story:
We adopted 6 mustangs 7 years ago. We brought them all home from the auction to a ten acre pasture and turned them loose. I have always been the primary caregiver, but in this case, it only extended to me filling the water tank as they stood about 400 yds away watching. One evening at dusk, I drove in to do evening chores and found he whole band running crazy. Apparently, one of the adopters was trying to catch his horse by funneling all of the horses through a gate into a big square corral. Well, it wasn’t working so I hopped the fence to see if I could help in some way, but the dust was so thick and it got dark by the time I got to the middle of the pasture. I could hear them thundering around me and being new to the Mustang world I wondered “is this a safe thing to even be out here ?”. Anyway, the other person gave up and left, not knowing I was there, and I watched the red tailights head out the driveway. I couldn’t tell which way was which because of the dark and the dust so I waited for it to clear. When the dust settled I was completely surrounded by the mustangs, all facing me, they knew where I was the entire time. I wasn’t sure what to do at first, I didn’t want to startle them all into having a “mustang moment” (bolt and run) so I very humbly ( of course with downcast eyes, horses notice things like that even in the dark) turned toward the main gate and started to walk – they quietly fell in line behind me and followed me single file all the way to the gate. It was my baptism into the mustang world. The feeling of trust and acceptance was so profound It was life changing. I am forever grateful for their teachings and they continue to challenge my too human rational mind. Truly, THEY are the supreme species.
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Thank You for your profound experience !!!! What an honor they gave to you on that nite !!!!!! They are superior beings !!! WOW !!!! Please your story is not over yet !!! There will be more and more indications of their interactions with you !!!!! You have been Blessed !!!!!!!! please keep us informed !!!!! Want to hear them all there will be many !!!!!!!
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Beautiful story, you have the bond with your horses as I do with mine. And yes mine are who I am without them I am nothing. And my girls always look at each other as if to say, mom is listening in on us again!
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georgous story, and so magical. everyday i say to myself, you are so lucky to have a horse in your life.
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This is one of my all time favorite horse stories. Thanks R.T. and others for sharing and giving witness to the phenomenon that remains invisible to far too many—that horses are far more than just beautiful animals.
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Everyone who has belonged to a horse has stories like that. They are so special – all of them.
There will always be an empty spot in my heart for my boy. Always. He gave me the best time of my life for 16 years. Same goes for my dogs & cats.
And I don’t care for anyone who doesn’t like animals, either!!!
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