By Susan Mountjoy

I first met my horse 2 years ago when he came limping down my long
driveway. I live on a horse boarding farm and at first I thought one of
the horses had escaped, but this was an Appaloosa I'd never seen
before. He was obviously old and sick and starving, but underneath the dirt and scars was a beautiful red roan coat with mahogany spots. And his eyes - despite his suffering he looked at me through these dark serene eyes as though he were saying, "I finally found you." He pressed his head against me and stood still for the longest time while I rubbed his ears. I named him Pawnee.

Tire marks and hoofprints at the top of the top of the driveway showed
a truck and trailer had pulled up, left him and drove away. I never
learned who it was but at least he found his way to me. We began our healing journey together by having the vet visit. At first the vet
agreed the horse was old, but after examining his teeth he said he was only 8 or 9. He had horrific burns on one hip, whip marks, hundreds of crusted sores and lesions, a recent deep slash on his shoulder the vet was able to stitch up.He had some type of severe injury to his neck muscles and wasn't able to graze without spreading his legs apart, like a giraffe.

Pawnee could only eat mash at first, slowly graduating to senior horse feed and then to pasture grass. I made him soft horse muffins with lots of molasses and he did a little dance whenever he saw me coming with them. No matter what procedure he had to endure he was always still and calm. After one year I rode him and he did beautifully. But even though his physical problems had improved I knew memories still bothered him - men with dark beards...old blue pickup trucks...loud voices. I knew about Reiki but I thought it was just for people. Then I read about Kathleen's book, 'Animal Reiki', and immediately ordered it. The day it came I opened it to a random page and said out loud, 'I'm going to do this for Pawnee!' I searched everywhere for a Reiki teacher locally and finally found one. After completing Reiki 1 I gave Pawnee a treatment. He was very receptive and was relaxed and yawning. 3 weeks later I took Reiki 2 and what a difference! I stood at the far end of the field Pawnee was in and did my 1st distant treatment. He turned around and looked at me, then began trotting down the hill and inspected my hands thoroughly. What a difference level 2 made! He just soaked it up, pulling huge amounts. but there was still that aura about him, a feeling as though he was still waiting for something bad to happen to him...as if his new life was just too good to be true.

A month after I began giving Pawnee level 2 treatments we had quite the experience. What began as a 'routine' session turned into anything but that. A few minutes into the treatment he began pulling incredible amounts of Reiki...then he started to stiffen and back up, as if he were very frightened. He looked at me almost pleadingly and began to cough and hack horribly. It truly frightened me! I wanted to run and call the vet but didn't want to leave him. His head hung down while he gagged and coughed and I put my hands back on him to try and comfort him. Immediately I had a sensation of horrible fear and despair, almost electrifying. At the time I thought it was my fear of his sudden condition, but now I know it was HIS fear coming out. I believe the coughing and choking was a healing reaction. It suddenly stopped and he stood quietly, eyes and nose running. Then he took a HUGE breath and let it out, looking at me as if to say, "Well, that's over with!"

And it is. Today Pawnee is at his proper weight, terribly spoiled and
very, very happy. He likes to pull peoples' hats off and run away with
them. He pulls the farrier's tools out of his back pockets and drops
them. A sheriff's deputy stopped to visit him and he offered Pawnee a
life saver in his palm. Instead of taking it, Pawnee instead yanked the
entire roll of Life Savers from his other hand and galloped off, eating
it, paper and all. He loves baths - the more suds the better. He adores children and helps them learn to ride. His best friend is a little
Native American girl who visits often and brings peppermint sticks and gingersnaps for him. They have a game they love to play - she sticks her tongue out him and HE sticks HIS tongue out at her! This goes on and on until she usually falls down on the grass laughing. People don't believe this until they see the photo of them together. What a pair!

Pawnee doesn't mind bearded men any longer, or old blue pickups. He's laid-back and serene. He's found his forever home and I've gained a forever friend. It was a fortuitous day that he came down my driveway.
Thank you, Reiki.

About the Author: Susan Mountjoy lives on a horse farm in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado. She is a Reiki Level 2 healer and is working on building her practice, 'Kindred Spirit Animal Reiki'. She volunteers at local animal shelters and also offers Reiki to law
enforcement canines. She says, "Kathleen's outstanding course has
had a phenomenal effect on my Reiki practice." You can contact Susan at kindredspirit@wickedmoon.com.