Oh, ((Big Mama))), I didn't know you work with horses, yes, me too. I also worked with children too for several years. Yes, actually my T grew up with horses and we were talking and he said, horses and even dogs also get a PTSD from abuse. And do know that abused animals take a lot of time to help and teach to have trust again. I have a Mustang I rescued that was abused and I could not even brush him and he just about sat down when I tried to saddle him. My daughter and I did a lot of work with him and he is such a nice animal now.

My daughter just adopted a Lab from a rescue, he is a year old and was rescued in Georgia. Oh he was so frightened and she just held him and kept telling him he is going to be really happy and loved now and he slowly picked up his head and licked her face. She already has him going out with her and the Mustang on the trail and this dog stays right by her side. He doesn't let my daughter out of his site, if she does get too far from him he wimpers. He just doesn't know yet, he is never going to ever be abandoned again.

I am so glad to know you found such a nice outlet that brings meaning and purpose into your life.

But Big Mama, though you have boundary issues, in the past and now, you can slowly learn how to empower yourself. That is what has been missing in your life somehow, you still have a "victim" mentality, but you can slowly learn to overcome that. That is actually a big reason why I thought about starting this thread. I am working on that myself.

I talked to my T today about my recent struggles. And he told me that people who have been victims either shy away when they see others being abused or, they are strongly motivated to jump in to the rescue. He told me that is what I do. I told him that I always struggled with being misunderstood why I step up for others so strongly, he told me that is because I know the pain so intimately from being a victim myself. And many victims will stay in a bad situation because they never had the self empowerment to walk away, they learned to stay and take it. He told me that it is a big leap to "self empowerment" for some victims, but once they begin to do it they do so much better.

It really never means you are a failure Big Mama, you were a victim, that is all, not your fault. And YES, finally opening up and being around others that can validate you, understand you and open that door for you is a blessing. Somehow, what you do for each horse you help is what you needed too but never knew how to find it. You can work towards that.

" But in the face of abuse and neglect even an animal can since your pain and your suffering just like you can since there's." quote Big Mama

Well, it isn't just that they sense "your pain", they respond to your kind touch and soothing ways. I am sure you give a lot of encouraging touchs and talks to these horses and you make sure you do things the same way over and over so they learn to "accept" more. I also read somewhere that we can emit chemicals when we do that and animals can sense that. We are finding out that animals have feelings too. They have been studying that and even seeing odd connections of animals to other animals that were never imagined could happen before.

(((Big Hugs to you Big Mama)))
Open Eyes