It's a Filly!!

After what seemed like such a long wait its now taken me 6 days to get to this post! My apologies. Little foals keep you busy.

Introducing Sefja!!

Osk's foal was born during the night and I met her on May 21st. when I went out to feed the herd. She was up and dry and both mother and daughter were well and relaxed. Yes, its a filly and her name is Sefja, which means mist. I had tentatively picked the name ahead of time, but when I saw a little silver grey girl I new it was Sefja.

She is beyond beautiful, with a crescent moon on her forehead, fuzzy brown ears, a nearly black back and long silvery legs. And Osk is a wonderful mother.

The Blue Door.

Osk has still not produced her foal...her belly is only a foot and a half from the ground. Guess she is a twelve month mother! She is well, energetic, and always hungry.
So I will talk to you instead of The Door.

Mandala has become a place of great peace, learning, relaxation and heightened intuition for so many people. All of the animals, horses, cats, dogs and humans offer great friendship, comfort and challenges. Tonight I am going to talk about "the door".
Those of you who have spent time at Mandala will be quite familiar with The Door. Right now it's blue. It's very old, having lived here for 39 years and being an antique in a previous life. It leads from the kitchen to the tackroom to the stable. Its a work of art, engrained with designs created by the many dogs and a few cats that have opened it ( or tried).
Shaymas, the giant size afghan, left the deepest marks that reach highest up the door. Cleo was always more accurate and one swipe with her paw usual hit the latch.
So why does this door, that opens so easily for dogs, warrant a spot on my blog? Well, it doesn't open easily for people. Once in a while someone will say "Why don't you fix your door?" And my reply is always "Because its not broken" as I gently swing it open for them, the latch cooperating on the first try.
This door requires a lot from people. It asks them first to be gentle...you can't fight it. It asks them to remember to breath, or find the ground with their feet, or center themselves. Often it reflects what they do when they are riding or handling a horse. Today someone was struggling and I suggested they drop their chin ( their "above the bit" position put a lot of tension in their back, shoulders and arms) and as they followed that directive, the door swung gently open. And yes, that elevated chin did show up in their riding!
Sometimes all it asks of you is to be willing to ask for help.
Like with so many things at Mandala, I thank it daily, appreciating the help it gives me in teaching others. And once in a while it even catches me when I am in too much of a hurry, feeling too stressed or forgeting the deep connection that I have to Mother Earth and all that is.

Mothers Day...what a great day for the foal to be born. But don't get excited...I'm getting a lesson in patience and letting go of control! Listening to the wind and thunder last night made me think about the stories I read as a child where the foal was always born on a stormy night. But Osk must be thinking a warm, dry day would be much nicer. Do mares really have any more control over these things than human mothers do?
The weather really cooperated for the Full Moon Ride. It thundered and rained just before we all gathered for an indoor dinner, but stopped before it was time to tack up. The moon never did appear from the low cloud cover, but the darkness, the peepers and the warm wind all made it a great ride.

Friday, May 8th.
Osk ( and I ) are still patiently awaiting the arrival of her foal. It will be any day now! It has been cool and very wet here for the last few days and I think Osk is waiting for a warm, dry day. She did enjoy a good roll in the mud today. It made me really wonder what it must feel like to the foal inside to have mother blissfully wollowing in mud. She didn't roll right over; just got up and changed sides. I'm sure baby was grateful for that.
Tomorrow is the first Full Moon Ride of the season. Participants are coming from Halifax and the South Shore. Dusk is just settling in and its nearly 9 o'clock. This time tomorrow we will be tacking up and then return to Mandala after the ride to sit around a bonfire and share our experiences.

Cleo and Bear

May 5th and still no sign of Osk's foal. She is VERY big now, with quite a full udder, so it won't be long. Its cooler and rainy now, so perhaps she is waiting for warmer days!
Lessons are in full swing and tonight was the first Therapeutic Riding session of the season. Pretty wet, but two brave souls showed up and enough volunteers to make it happen.

Most of you know that in 1990 I had the wonderful privilege of apprenticing with Sally Swift (Centered Riding)and it is with great sadness that I share with you that she died on April 20th ,2009 just a short while before her 96th birthday. She was such an important person and influence in my life that I would like to do a tribute to her on my blog site. It needs time, love and thought so it will be a little later.

On another sad note, my lovely dog Cleo died on April 7th. She was never an easy dog, but taught me so much in the years she shared with me. She came to me in 1996, as an eight month old puppy, bouncing off the walls and generally out of control. I told the animal shelter that I would foster her for three weeks. Time to get her settled and ready to be adoptable. That was over 12 years ago! TTouch helped her a great deal and she was one of those dogs that were happiest if you could train her 24/7. In many ways life is easier now, friends can bring their dogs, ( Cleo never got over wanting to eat poodles for lunch!), Bear is more relaxed without her lording it over him, but she has left a big gap in my life and a sadness in my heart.

As I write this I am listening to the sound of spring peepers, surrounded by forsythia and daffodils. I wish you all a most joyful spring. Until next time... Olga and the Icelandics.