Ready for some real-time, horse body/energy language communication? Cobra and Zorra are engaged in a very specific, high-energy conversation here. Observe and see if you can figure out what’s happening between them… what’s being negotiated? What are they trying to work out? I’ll give my thoughts at the end…
I posted the first clip of this video on Instagram and people had some very interesting musings about what might be happening:
I feel he wants her to stand her ground and be stronger. Fight for herself. Empowerment. @alanaschmude
She’s been in a bad mood since yesterday so i think the only way to help that flow through her is if she’s moving – same with me. He won’t tolerate her negativity @zarathompson16 (my daughter)
Wow, he’s so intentional in his actions. I feel sad for her, but that’s me wanting to save. He’s definitely stepping up in his role of ruler….. what was his relationship with her before? She’s confused. Keep us posted!!! @vittoriapalazzi
This maybe so off, but it gave me the impression that maybe Zorra did/said something, with the best of intention, that hurt Cobra (because of it being a big truth but he’s feeling she trespassed his limits saying that/going in that direction). So now he’s showing this BIG limits in his space towards her, and his strength too, to make clear his point and that he has his stuff handeled and doesn’t need her to “enter his safe space”. I think I perceive Zorra to “feel sorry”, and his reaction is hurting her too in some way as what she said really came from her heart… Maybe I’m just projecting but I had this sensation watching them both!! @fionadecarli
So fascinating with all of the different view points… My sense is layered, that this can be both on a personal level for the two of them but that it’s ALSO collective. That they are modeling what is currently playing out in the world right now with all of the chaos and fear – chase it faar away and pretend like it doesn’t exist. And then when it returns again and again, you keep “denying” and chasing it of once again. In conclusion what I feel about this video, is that they are demonstrating the very definition what the listen to your horse – community is all about – stop and LISTEN. And isn’t that something that this world so desperately needs right now? So that’s my perspective! @emeliemjonsson
Maybe he wants to make her stronger for which one uses time alone? @luciennevandeven
I think these are all excellent observations and explanations. I can’t be 100% certain what’s happening in these video clips either, but over the last few months, I have observed both Zorra and Cobra increasing their personal strength, and grounding more solidly into their true, vibrant self.
From the day he arrived, Cobra has been tutoring Zorra in how to increase her personal strength and how to set and hold healthy boundaries.
Since we worked with Cobra to release all his castration trauma, he too has been increasing his personal strength and vibrancy.
This looks to me like another piece along that pathway for both of them. Notice Cobra is not just moving Zorra in this video, he’s also being directive with Posa too – but she complies quietly, with no fuss.
Interestingly, this week’s Interactive Livestream for the Membership group was all about… healthy boundaries! Followed by an intensive 1-hr boundaries demonstration by Cobra, Zo, Makah, Aude and Posa which I also filmed for the group. Obviously, this is a very important piece for humans to understand and become fluent in.
If you’ll notice Zorra’s behaviour in the first clip, she’s downright saucy with Cobra and even stamps her foot at him. She doesn’t try to go and eat in another area – she wants him to let her eat in his area. The other horses also seemed unappreciative of Zo’s energy on this day, so I hung a haynet in the sleep shelter – just in case she needed a lot of space opened up to be able to eat. On a cold, wet day like this, I don’t want to risk her getting locked out of food/shelter.
In the second clip, you can see that Zorra is in heat – just another added layer of spiciness to the conversation. She seems to want Cobra to engage with her sexually, but I did not see him oblige her during this heat cycle. She got what she needed from Makah though; interest, nibbling games, and putting up with her advance-retreat-nip-head toss coquettishness.
By the end of the week, I noticed Zorra on the ring road a few times, staring off into the distance. It feels like she’s ready/looking for adventure. Perhaps the herd is working together to increase her strength and resilience.
I wonder what she and my daughter Zara are going to cook up for the spring/summer…?
Jini Patel Thompson is a natural health writer and Lazer Tapping instructor. She began riding at age 2 in Kenya, and got her first horse at age 8 in Alberta, and so continues a life-long journey and love affair with these amazing creatures.
I was interested in the down-on-the-ground expressions between them. Here’s what I wrote while watching:
Zorra approaches and stands at a distance from Cobra who’s eating. She is shy, hesitant; she’s fearful of him, waiting for him, needs him. Impatient. He won’t turn. She wants him to. She doesn’t know how to ask. (I learn he’s already run her out 4 times.) She turns and goes, and Seyone comes in to drive her out further and turns to Cobra to complete the job. Cobra does it and drives Zo further away. Zo needs him to do it and comes back for more. She’s now out on her own but returns to him, first stopping delicately. She goes to stand in the shelter and Cobra is a long way off.
The next day the dynamic is the same. Cobra drives her off. He is decisive but not aggressive. Stern with her but attentive, directive. Zorra herself so gentle.
Then Zo pees….aha…she’s in heat….
Cobra stands ‘cloaking’ her and protecting her intimacy and says ‘It’s between us’.
His annoyance; he can’t cover her, he’s castrated.
Aude shooes off Zo in no uncertain terms. Aude is saying to Zo ‘Can’t you see? He can’t cover you.’ But then Zo folows Cobra..Her innocence; ‘It’s just biology’.
Cobra joins the rest of the herd. It feels like they support him. Zo is still out on the edge, alone.
Last Spring, Zo got Makah to mount her, with his penis out! I was amazed.
I am commenting before I read anything accompanying this! I wish I would of commented before I watched the second half! As I saw the hoof stomp as a mating call! An attention call! It looked like a mating ritual energy to me! It was very cool to see I was correct! I am not completely sure why Cobra is chasing her? Maybe because she is beckoning him? That is what I feel? It’s like come get me! Then let me play hard to get! She is probably frustrated at the fact that all the boys are gelded! No one to service her biological desire to breed! I am a bit curious/disappointed that I did not take all this social structure into account before finding this group many years ago! We take so much away from domestic horses we obviously add a lot too….but we must stay mindful of all they still have inside them that we have no way of truly honoring! For me your situation is way closer then most to a dynamic herd but still I feel Zorra has wants and desires that are not able to be met! That is my take on it!
Ok two side notes! How fortunate you are to have all the talented diverse youth that surrounds you and the herd! Such a lovely voice in that girl!
Second …hooves! Yes I am still hoping for your path to hooves to become front and center so I can hear your and Kesia wisdom! But in the meantime have you noticed the track you put around helping with Self Trimming? It looks to be holding up well with all your rain? The four horsemen and I are on our second year of mostly ST and it has been fascinating and I have learned so much! I know I have run the gamut of hoof protocols and now listening to the horses and the hooves has been the answer….DUH! Anyway you know what a hoof junkie I have always been and I still am! Sometimes it saddens and frustrates me that I have gone so far from deep knowing and had to come full circle back! But I also know that learning is a journey and not always a direct path! ✌🏼💚🐴
Yes, that’s exactly the way Zo behaves BUT it doesn’t make a difference whether the horse is gelded or not, she behaves the same way! She asked to go in with Montaro before he was gelded and I watched exactly the same dynamic – she would ask him to mount her, again and again, but would never let him insert. A 90 year old woman I know, who’s pasture-bred horses most of her life, said that it is always the female’s choice whether they conceive or not.
You’re going to have to ask the universe to get that Hoof Documentary finished – neither of us has the time (there’s so much footage) and paying someone would cost about $5,000. So that’s where it sits. I had gotten a fundraiser ready to go – just before Covid hit – and then never launched it as I felt bad asking for donations when people were struggling etc.
The track helps greatly with them being able to stay out of the mud and not get injured when they’re run off the graveled areas. They already had enough gravel to self-trim, so it didn’t make a difference to their hooves. But SUCH a difference to their quality of life! xox
Three things comes to my mind, one is this energy of the light coming back, of energy coming back, of spring being around the corner soon… The second one, that Zorra is drawn to Cobra, almost as if it were some kind of a game for her. If she was really scared, I think she would avoid him? And three, linking to their stories and personalities, Cobra has reacted with aggression after humans have not respected him, and Zorra, I believe, has reacted with submission? In some ways I see this as sort of the attraction of opposites. Symbolically for me, this seems to be like the dazzling spark of energy when opposites meat, and of course a shift in energy.
Yes, true, submission and fear has been her default previously. Love your observation xo
It could be possible that Zorra wants to connect w Cobra due to her being in heat .
Cobra now a gelding no longer able to service her Is releasing his frustration out on her .
My guess is once she goes out of heat things will go back to normal .
If Montaro was there, she wouldn’t be asking Cobra or Makah LOL. He’s always been her favorite 😉