Horse & Nessa Heaven!

The past three weeks, I have been WWOOFing (“Willing Workers on Organic Farms”…FMI about the organization and its mission: www.wwoof.co.nz) at a horse sanctuary called Wild Side Farms / New Zealand Centre for Equine Psychology and Behaviour / Herdword Programmes. (website: www.herdword.co.nz) What a profound experience! Describing it is very difficult because this chapter in my life is MORE THAN WORDS. Max and Jane are very welcoming hosts, absolutely wonderful folk who strive to change the world for the better during the day and who just love to discuss big ideas over wine in the evening. My kind of people!

Jane and Max have been researching natural herd behaviour on their farm for many years, and have incorporated the psychology of the horse into an educational programme about communication and leadership for horse people, called Herdword (the word of the herd!). All horses (except youngsters born on the farm) have been donated because owners could not get along with their “problematic, dangerous” equines. Jane communicates to them in their [mostly body] language, and within months, they are happy, healthy, well-behaved horses: all 18 of them!

I had the privilege of helping to care for these wonderful animals, and actually had two specific charges: Hannah and Leo. It was really thrilling to apply new (to me…and to most horsefolk) techniques of handling and claiming Leadership of these two characters, who were only too willing to try me on for size. (Jane says 28-years-young Leo, especially, is a great teacher for people new to the word of the herd!) These duties included grooming, mixing feed and feeding, poo-picking, blanketing, leading, etc. AWESOME STUFF. Jane was in need of my help as a stable hand especially during a 4-day Herdword programme session, to help prepare the horses for handling by 2 students attending.

So that incorporated the first half of my three-week tenure. (Oh, and I must not neglect to mention my co-wwoofer, Ben, from Germany – great companion and new friend! See photos :) ) Duties during the second half involved mostly helping to make final edits to Jane’s new book, due to the publisher YESTERDAY (May 8). (Whew! We just barely made it – reminds me of my own work publication deadlines, and rather weirded me out at times at the similar pressures I felt.) The book’s title is “Before You Shoot Your Horse: Consider the 82 Reasons Why People Have Problems With Horses.” Fascinating stuff (including Emotional Intelligence, Leadership traits, roles of hierarchy in groups, body language, etc. – all of which apply to humans, too!) to learn and contribute to as I edited. It was a really, really phenomenal and powerful experience to absorb all the new information in so many ways: the book, conversations with Jane and Max, and the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes (from their organic garden) of the surrounding environment of their spectacular, one-of-a-kind Wild Side Farm.

Jane also took Ben and I to an off-the-beaten-path little seaside village and sheep station called Akitio. (Want to know what a sheep station is? Teacher Ness says, “Google it!”) We had a marvelous little picnic with wine, and a gorgeous sunset beach walk in solitude (not another soul in sight!), and a coastal drive through the remote sheep station (with permission from the manager).

Another awesome experience: herding the sheep from the back of a four-wheeler with neighbor Dave and 7-year-old Michael (on his dirt bike), and their dogs (part border collie, part something else). Oh, all the whistle calls Dave had to give precise directions to the dogs! Really a cool experience.

I was a bit emotional the morning I departed – feeling that there was more to gain from and give to Wild Side Farms and Jane and Max. But, there is a very good chance we will see each other again in the near future… Jane and I are strategizing on making the farm and local community a highlight of a guided tour! (My friend Erja runs a women’s international adventure tours business, and has asked me to lead an NZ excursion! Yet more exciting stuff on the horizon!)

So ends another chapter...not many more left, getting a bit nostalgic already…

(Link to the photos for Weeks 8-10, click here)