Quote for the week

I am ready to move ahead, now is the right time for me to start.
~Jack to the animal communicator

Before the final decision was made about Jack going to rehab was made we had the animal communicator help me tell Jack what was going on and to see what he had to say about things. The last time I sent Jack off was to trail horse boot camp. It was a good thing for him to do, but he felt I had sent him because I didn't trust him anymore. The truth was I didn't trust myself enough to work through the things we needed to work through. I didn't make that clear to Jack and he was a bit upset with me. This time I was going to do things differently. I had planned on sending him twice at earlier dates. The first date came and Jack made it very clear he was not going, he wasn't ready, and that was it. The second time another horse needed to stay longer at the rehab facility than initially planned. Now we reach the third try, I was not sure I was ready for Jack to go, the outcome of the evaluation could change everything for us and I was afraid...
But this time there was an ease around Jack that there hadn't been the previous times. He wasn't moaning any more when he saw the halter coming when he had to do his therapy here. He would line right up to the mounting block when we were in the arena practicing and then stand there, even when I would lay across his back instead of dancing away. He had a confidence around him, he was feeling secure with himself finally.
When the communicator facilitated the conversation between Jack and I some interesting things came up. Jack was worrying about me, he felt I wasn't doing some things that I should be doing to take care of myself. He wanted a promise that while he was a rehab I would do the things I needed to do to address my own physical issues...promise made and promise will be kept. Jack also wanted me to know he believes he is going to be just fine, that he thinks I will be riding him again so I shouldn't be sad. Jack also said he wanted to move forward, he was not liking being stuck and limited in what he could do. He was ready to go to rehab, in fact he knew that now was the right time.
So yesterday Jack loaded up in a trailer, he did a lot of sniffing to see who had been in there before. Neither he or I had any reservations about him leaving. In fact Jack seemed excited to embark on this new part of the journey. I was pleased to see him be able to bear his own weight for a bit on his hinds while he sniffed the trailer. A month ago that would not have been possible. He traveled well during the 2 hour trip. Then, as if to punctuate how ready he is to get back to normal he backed out of the trailer on his own as soon as he was unclipped. The therapist thought she would have to turn him to unload because he has struggled with just backing up. Jack is making his wishes clearly know, he plans on getting back to normal and we are going to do everything we can to grant that wish.
I am going up on Tuesday to spend the day with him and to visit Scooby.
I am excited and happy that Jack and my journey together continues, I am looking forward to the next few miles.
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain.