Camel Herding & Horses

Recently, with support from friends, Carmen and Victor, I've essentially made the transition from other duties to being more-or-less full time with the camels and horses. Though still connected to and overall responsible for the rest of things at Fear-No-More Zoo, I'm now much more concentrated in the camel-horse areas.

This move is essential for the developments we are effecting here. We wish to develop a form of interaction with the camels and horses that is rooted in an understanding of their culture and who they are as individuals... rather than imposing our otherwise uninformed "human" points of view on them. Spending a lot of time among them is necessary for this to truly occur.

Already, with the increased time I'm spending among them, I'm noticing a change, or deepening, in their acceptance of me. Some have also begun testing me in various ways. We already know each other pretty well but are now getting to know each other better. Moving back and forth between camels and horses is interesting too as they are very similar but different.

A couple of nights ago, just on dusk, I was standing around with nine of the camels as they ate. Young Barack approached, wanting me to pet her. So I rubbed her all over, firmly and softly. She reached her head back to nuzzle me briefly a few times until I found a spot on her tummy that I began circling gently with my open hand... her lips quivered, her neck stretched, her back gently relaxed and she shuffled her hind legs out behind her until she was almost balancing on toe-tips, and she couldn't get enough of this tummy tickling.

After I finished and moved away she was glued to me, following me around everywhere. As I approached her little sister, "No-Two", Barack immediately got between us and sent her sibling away. I like this kind of confidence. She's still young and there is plenty of time to gently shape her as she grows so that this same confidence doesn't become dangerous for me later on.

This month, and in October, we're running our first Sacred Camel and Horse retreats. These are practice runs to get us up to speed for running monthly retreats next year, starting in April.

Now that I'm out with camel and horse people much more I'll be adding new posts more frequently so please check back from time to time to keep up with developments.

Stuart

Becoming Friends

This morning I was in a funk. I fed the horses a little sweet-mix with supplements and trudged across the field to fill their water trough. On my way back to the gate the pair approached.

I was surrounded. They asked me to pet them. There was little talk. I concentrated first on the black gelding, "Bright", then the white mare, "Holy". They kept putting my face between their two big heads... stroking cheeks and necks, warm breath blowing in my ears.

Together they were softening, returning me to feeling, re-energized, relaxed. I still had to check on the camels. Walking down the paddock, grateful that the horses bothered to connect and make their point... which is simply to feel, relax, release and feel... I was very happy we were able to rescue at least these two feeling, intelligent, beings from slaughter by horse industry "cleaners"...

Stuart

Bathing the Girls

In hot weather the girls piss down the inside of their hind legs a lot. It may serve to cool them as the urine evaporates. In the dry hot weather a few days of pissing can start to get a bit hard on the nose, at least for some.

So every few days I halter the girls one at a time and lead them to a tie post near the hose. I make it fun and pleasant and throughout the bathing they get random carrot bits. After washing we go together for a short, happy, walk then the halter comes off, and in goes another carrot. Then it's the next girl's turn.

I don't force anyone, just going with those who are willing. Luckily they are also the ones who need it most! The other girls watch, and one by one they are getting interested. Observing how much fun it is, how many carrots get served and how fresh and relaxed the washed ones feel... I think its starting to look like not such a bad idea to the older girls, and the guys too.

HiHo, our resident "monkey", a young bull with enough personality for two camels, often comes over and sits by the "camel wash"... sitting to the side, hoping a carrot will come his way just for looking cute and, occasionally, low and behold, a carrot does somehow end up in his mouth...!

Stuart

Fear-No-More World WALKS

For the "Vision of Fear-No-More", "Fear-No-More Zoo" & the "Sacred Camel-Horse Gardens"... World Walk BLOG

Two Horses Join Us

For half a dozen months now I've been considering bringing some horses into our developing camelid "program". I want to begin working the camels and horses together eventually. We also love horses, just as much as camels...

Somehow, recently, we ended up helping in the rescue of two handsome thoroughbreds, Holy and Bright. Holy was on her way to a slaughter house in Mexico I believe, and Bright was going to be euthanized by her teenage rider's parents with the intent of teaching their daughter a lesson!! Both horses gracefully emerged from those situations to arrive, last week, at our sanctuary, never to be hit or forced or threatened again... now to live their lives here happy as horses, only to be ridden at their pleasure, not ours.









They haven't met the camels yet. That should be interesting. The camels will most likely just stand and stare back. The horses will probably explode at their first camel sighting. Its quite a site. But they quickly work things out.

Our program here will eventually have half a dozen horses and 20 or so camels.

Our training of both will draw predominantly from Carolyn Resnick's "Seven Waterhole Rituals", from the animals themselves and from Adi Da Samraj's spiritual wisdom with regard to animals.

Stuart
FNMZ

Herd Moments...

After a leisurely breakfast of fresh hay, and cool shade under tall oaks, the camels meander off to graze and browse in small groups, or sometimes alone, coming and going as inclined and attracted.

Peaceful Baba heads off along the fence-line to where the watering hose runs under the wire and out into the lower paddock. Sitting down, he uses his mouth to retrieve the entire length of hose, foot by foot, dragging all of it back up onto his "lap", hoping the open end will be running with cool, fresh, bubbling water. Sometimes it is, this time not. And he sits there quietly, on the grass under the sun.

HiHo, eyes flickering with mischief and anticipation, bumbles over to the ranch truck to test the air pressure on all four tires!

The older Google Mama, herd matriarch, draws her calf away to a nearby tree where they sit together quietly. One of the other calves bounces over to Google and Barack, wanting to join their repose or to draw Barack into a game. The often accommodating Google Mama doesn't care for this distraction and deftly sends the young calf away, clearly wanting to spend some quiet time with her baby, apart from the herd. A few more times the frisky young calf, Green Smoothy, bounds back to the tree, pestering Barack and her mother, each time finding herself sent away.

Eventually alone Google Mama and her two month old calf, Barack, sit side-by-side, silent and motionless, gazing out across the pasture, immersed deeply in the "feeling of being". Both mother and daughter are intensely steady, deep and serious camels.

Stuart

"Nothing" is close...

Gradually as I find my way in the training of these camels, I'm realizing that the best way forward with them is, largely, to do "nothing" -- just being with them. More and more when asked, "What do you do with these camels?" I find myself replying, "Nothing."

"Nothing" is not quite true, but it's close.

As old points of view, ideas, agendas and techniques erode, simply from being around the camels, my approach to them becomes more one of trust, respect, mystery, feeling and patience. This is them teaching me, showing me... And with this I find the camels entering into relationship with me much more readily. Interactions take on more of a flowing quality, where each camel in turn comes and goes within the herd to visit with me, and me with them. The more I manage to let go of wanting to control this process the more I find myself drawn in by them. When they are given the space to choose to do something with me, if they choose it happily, willingly, rather than feeling "trained", or conjured, into it, then the thing they just learned, or chose to do, be it wearing a halter, lifting a leg, sitting, lead walking, need never be learned again. Because they trusted my invitation, and because they chose it, they don't forget it, and it seems not to need further re-enforcement.

The less goal oriented and intentional my approach, the more the "results", if I want to call them that, become better and surer...

I see little signs of this every day, and we never go backwards -- unless I revert to what my teachers taught me back in school.

Stuart