Open Wounds

You know that feeling of deep compassion when you see torn flesh on an animal or a person? A need to help and to empathize rises inside of us, making our interaction with the wounded a gentle and focused thing. A physical wound is so obvious. A physical wound has consistent, obvious needs and they are immediate.

Emotional and mental wounds are equally damaging, if not even more so, and need the same level of response and care. Yet often, these wounds go unnoticed, unattended and this can drive them deep into the core of a being where they remain open and hurting. They end up hidden from all but the one who is wounded.

Of course, a physical wound will likely include damage to the other embodiments, depending upon how it was inflicted. We think of the “whole horse”, the “whole person” when healing and we come from a place of empathy here at the Sanctuary. Empathy comes from our experiences and none of us get through this life without wounds. If you have never stubbed your toe, you won’t cringe and gasp when someone rams their bare foot into a table leg. One thing I felt grow in me, while caring for my Mum as she became disabled, was awareness of others at the market or in cafe’s who walked with a cane and the observation of those who opened doors and helped as well as those who were oblivious. When we have known hardship, we grow in our compassion.

In animal rescue, we see all fashion of wounds. The recent, either physical or emotional, wounds require triage and dedication. The “open wounds” are screaming for help in unmistakable ways.

CLOSED WOUNDS

The old physical wounds have healed over, have scarred and set. They might be quite visible or barely perceptible. The body might feel the reminder as a stiffness, pain or sensitivity. We all have our “reminders” of old wounds. The animals may have deep, hidden closed wounds and no way to explain to us that things have never felt quite right since an injury.

The emotional closed wounds, the old ones that have buried themselves in memory, are the ones that do not rise to the surface often. When they do, it is because of some trigger igniting the replay of an event that caused the wound and the feelings (no matter how much time may have passed) rise with the same intensity as when it all happened.

With people, we can talk through the feelings, reassure someone that it is not happening now. With animals, especially horses, there is no clear way to let them know they are not being wounded again. All we can do is make absolutely certain that we do not inflict more damage by losing sight of our empathy. If we can come to horses where they are, and listen to them, we can be a comfort to the wounded and through comfort and compassion, heal the deepest of wounds.