Horse Tales & Teachers

While the entire country seemed to be embracing the story of this amazing horse, I was struggling with my misgivings about the filming of the more harsh and graphic scenes. I adored the parts of the movie that dealt with the relationship between the horse, Joey, and the kind people he attracted into his life, especially Albert. The scenes as a foal and youngster reminded me of my own babies and ignited warm feelings and gratitude for the horses whose chose to share my life.

I felt the movie truly showed the generous nature of horses to willingly do what is asked of them regardless of the consequences. I rushed to the theater to support this movie without considering the fact that there would be so much violence. Normally, I pass on this type of movie, but having a horse as the star drew me to the theater.

The longer I watched the more concern I began to feel about how these violent and realistic scenes were filmed. Being an empathetic, animal communicator and healer, I sense and feel animals’ emotions and pain. Just watching some scenes, especially the one in the barbed wire, was very difficult for me. I actually had to look away several times during this movie. I’m glad that I went, but I left worried for the equine actors who made these scenes appear so authentic.

My reaction to War Horse triggered a mixed bag of memories from life on my farm in central New Jersey when I worked with an equine actress. I was introduced to this star-crossed mare when my vet-husband and I were checking mares for breeding at a local Quarter Horse facility. My husband was asked to perform a reproductive exam, because her person was considering breeding the mare. When my husband began to palpate her, she went ballistic – bucking and kicking wildly. This was totally unexpected as most mares just stand for the vet exam. I was startled and had almost no control of her, which frightened me. I was furious with the mare for her dangerous and disrespectful behavior.

The barn owner shared the mare’s history with us. The mare had appeared in the movie, Wolf, with Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer in 1994. In order to get her to spook at Jack Nicholson, the wolf, firecrackers were thrown at her. She was emotionally scarred from the traumatic experience. No wonder she didn’t trust or respect humans. I wouldn’t either. The barn owner told us how each Fourth of July since they had to leave a radio blaring by her stall to keep her from going crazy from the fireworks’ noise.

Once the story was told, I understood her dangerous explosion. It was still unacceptable, but understandable. I just wish we’d been forewarned that this was not your typical mare. My heart broke for her and I was flooded with guilt over the anger that I expressed during unruly behavior. Knowing her ordeal generated instant forgiveness within me. I’d begun communicating several years earlier and wanted to do all I could to recover this mare’s sanity and reinstate her trust in people. I wanted to offer her a happier existence.

The mare came to our hospital so we could use our set of stocks to better control her. Without them, she was too dangerous to work on. Along with some sedatives, our stocks did the trick. My husband was able to examine her and take a uterine culture. Unfortunately for her person, the mare had a uterine infection that would require daily treatments for five days. In reality, it was in perfection for all of us. It would give me time to gain her trust and cooperation through communication and some other healing modalities I worked with.

I rented Wolf, so that I could watch the scene that began this poor horse’s nightmares. I was astonished to see a scene of less than 30 seconds of the movie that changed this mare’s future. I was disgusted when I saw the disclaimer at the end that “no animals had been…” I was so angry that I wrote letters to the director, producer, and movie company. Sadly, no one acknowledged my letter or my concerns.