Grief

One of the ponies I recently visited was a mini Shetland. I had been called out to see him because over the last 6 weeks his behaviour had changed, he had become angry and wanted to bite everyone.Sue his owner took me up to Jack's lovely paddock with his own shelter and a wonderful bed and I introduced myself to him. Sure enough after sniffing my hand he decided to put his ears back and try and bite me!!I started a conversation with Jack who told me that he hated being left out when all the others went in. He was feeling jealous and left out. This I could understand, but I felt it was not the full reason for his behaviour. So I started healing Jack and working through his aggression. He stamped his front legs on the ground and told me his hooves hurt. Jack then showed me a picture of his hooves really long. He was being severely restrained whilst they were trimmed back. This had left Jack uncomfortable and in pain. I could see that jack was quite young at this time and it would have been before he came to Sue. I asked Sue if he was ok with the farrier and told her what I had seen. She confirmed that he was sensitive with the farrier but her farrier took his time and sat on the floor to trim them so that Jack did not feel scared.I carried on with the healing because I knew there was more to come. Jack would tell me little bits and then go quiet and yawn and then he would fire up again as we circled his box. I then felt a huge wall of sadness hit me. Jack was missing a friend, this pony had been out with him and now he was gone and Jack was very sad. I asked Sue if Jack had a friend who had died because there is a huge loss. She gasped and said that his friend had been put to sleep a year ago that day.Jack was having delayed grief, when his friend had passed away he had been with all the other horses at their old yard. About three months ago they had moved to a new yard and it is as if Jack's connection with his friend had gone. With winter coming on and the horses going in and Jack staying in his shelter he had felt lonely and the grief had come to the surface. The anger is a result of his grief and this has brought about past memories coming to the surface such as the dreadful trimming.All of this anger Jack has stored in his shoulders. I have asked Sue to gently massage the area and talk to Jack about his friend who had passed.Grief can hit horses in many different ways for some it can be delayed which is what has happened to Jack. The emotions have to be worked through like us there is no time limit it takes as long as it takes xwww.horsesvoice.co.uk