Kaffi speaks

There was nearly a three week gap between booking the appointment with the animal communicator and actually having her talk to our horses. During that time, Karen, Sarah and I spent a lot of time with Kaffi, and he was almost back to his original, pre-trauma self. Although still noticeably head shy, he was no longer hard to catch or handle, and I had started riding him again.

After Olive's session, we entered Kaffi's stall and stood with him. He came away from his food briefly to join in the three deep breaths, but he spent most of his session eating.

Kaffi opened his session with a statement about his looks. He said he was "handsome, handsome, handsome," and is very proud of his mane and tail. He likes to run and have his hair flow like Fabio.

After that he shared a picture of a cart or wagon. The communicator asked if he was trained to pull a cart. Karen admitted that anything was possible, but she highly doubted it. The next question was whether or not that was something horses of his breed typically do. We said no, and for a long moment, the conversation ground to a halt. 

Then Kaffi asked, "Are you keeping me?"

Okay, I get it. Karen has had this horse less than six months and is talking to a communicator. It's not hard to guess that maybe it hasn't been smooth sailing. Still, this question hit like a ton of bricks.

Karen admitted that she was not sure. She wanted to keep him, but she didn't know if they were a good match.

The communicator told Karen to tell him her intention. "Be truthful," she said and let him know. "Kaffi says he likes you. He thinks you are interesting and quirky. Also, he wants you to know that you are smart, and you got him for a really good deal. He just really wants to know the plan. He likes being in the know."

Karen's questions were the same as my questions, and when Kaffi was asked what he wanted to do more and less of, he said he wanted to go trail riding with Olive. He went on to say that he is not a baby horse and knows how to be ridden. He has a special, smooth gait and "floats like a butterfly." He shared pictures of a lot of the basic work we had been doing since his meltdown. She said, "I see him going around in circles on a long rope with you in the middle. He says, we do that a lot."

At that point in time, we were in fact, doing that a lot.

He said that lunging, figures eights, walking over poles was all "repeat, repeat, repeat" and "that gets old." He wants to do more and have more fun.

Like Olive, he said he liked walking on a lead like a dog. He also expressed an interest in music, stall toys and weirdly, sunflower seeds. He went on to say that he likes having his neck scratched and rubbed and prefers warm water for his baths. 

On the topic of food food, he said he was always hungry. He is not getting filled and doesn't absorb food as much as he should.

When pressed about his recent descent into headshyness, Kaffi said simply, "I'm nervous about people with my head." 

The communicator told Karen to reassure him by saying, "I understand someone hurt you on your head. I am sorry. You are safe with me."

Karen asked if he understood English. Without thinking, the communicator responded, "Yes, horses understand English."

Then I piped up, "But this horse has been in the United States for less than a year. Does he understand English?"

There was a pause, and the communicator said he did. 

We circled back to the cart. The communicator really felt like he was trying to tell us something important about the cart.

Karen asked if he liked the cart.

"Hell, no!" he exclaimed. "I do not like the cart."

"Good," Karen said. "There will be no more cart!"

After that, he told us, rather anticlimactically, that he likes peppermints, and the session ended.