Chex! Those who know me well, know that Chex has been in my life for years. He is a dear friend and one of my best teachers. Chex came into my life in the early months of 2014. After Mateo was retired I found myself horseless and as long winter months progressed, I knew that I needed to find a horse friend, quickly! Luckily, I stumbled upon Chex and immediately decided to shareboard him.
He was the horse that I chose to share with my precious niece, Julia, who is now an accomplished young horsewoman (not taking credit, ok maybe a little :).
Chex and I adventured through fields and paths together and tried our best in the arena as well. He was big, headstrong, confident and sometimes quite the button pusher! He challenged me to learn so many things, including:
-How to anticipate his reaction and change my tact in order to avoid getting into opposition with him. Early lessons in “avoiding the brace”.
-How to trust that he was in it with me, even when things got dicey (this is the horse that literally sat down when a Great Blue Heron flew up right in front of us so that I slid off of his back and ended up standing behind him, looked at me with surprise and went right back to normal).
-Even the strongest, seemingly impervious horses need support
When he was injured twice in a year and it was decided that he needed a year to recover and heal, I was devastated. I still remember where I was when I learned from his owner that he would be moving 2 hours away for at least a year. Of course she was doing the right thing for him, I just didn’t want to lose my adventure buddy!
Flash-forward to Thanksgiving 2019 when he came back!! I was thrilled to see him. Chex had always been incredibly strong and hearty so to see him now was an adjustment. I realized he needed support, love and BODYWORK! After all of the years that he supported and comforted me, I could finally return the favor. It felt incredibly providential that in the time he had been away, I had honed my skills and learned to soften even more, so that I could help connect with him in a new way.
Appleyard Equine Bodywork 