Gideon is the most aware horse I’ve ever encountered. In the course of our nine years together, he has taught me as much as I’ve taught him. Like Gray, he demands respect from the humans around him. He comes from the same strong willed and demanding genes as Gray, but also like his grand uncle, is a total gentleman unless he feels threatened. Gray grew into his role of Master Teacher. Gideon was born into it. When he was about five, he told an animal communicator that one of his main objectives was to teach people that stallions can be very gentle, and he certainly has succeeded. He is about as gentle as a horse can get on the ground, and it carries over into his teaching of students. His area of expertise is fearful riders. He is a genius at bringing people back who’ve had a bad experience or been hurt on another horse. As soon as he feels any fear, or loss of balance, he comes to a gentle stop, and waits till the student is ready to continue. He has a great sense of humor, too, and lightens everything up by getting everyone to laugh with his antics. In addition to his teaching, he is a wonderful athlete, being a good mover and jumper.
For many reasons, I wasn’t able to start Gideon under saddle until the Fall of his fourth year. He was delighted to begin work, and has been a very enthusiastic partner ever since. As a result of my frequent travels, his education has been sporadic, but he remembers everything, and works on improving his weak areas while I’m gone. He is always eager to show me upon my return that he has worked through a problem and has the solution. I can be gone for weeks, then come back, put a halter on him, and ride him bareback through the fields. Nine now, he has only had one brief season of competing due to the aforementioned traveling. His earliest shows were interesting, as he was so focused on all the horses and their riders. He sees himself as a protector and counselor, & that applies to whatever horses/riders are in his surroundings. He still managed to win or place every time out, but I learned to give him plenty of time to deal with the issues all around him before asking him to give me his total attention! There were many calls to Theresa Whitedove, our animal communicator, to help him understand the human perspective of competitions! Gideon considers his work in helping other horses get over their fears, anxieties, and disputes with their humans every bit as important as doing the best he can athletically. For instance, he wouldn’t respond to just any horse’s whinny at shows—only the ones who were in distress. That was obvious to me just by the sound of the whinnies that he would answer. Sometimes, he would not only whinny back, but put in some body language, like a stallion’s head shake, or a swish of his tail. This could be a problem in the middle of our dressage test! When I asked Theresa about this, she said that it was because he felt that either a horse or his rider was in a dangerous situation emotionally or physically, and he was emphasizing his point to the horse. I requested that when in an arena he limit himself to just the whinny, and once he understood about the scoring, he hasn’t made any wrong moves, or even vocalized any more.
Obviously, Gideon has continued Gray’s education about animal communication. Though I could “hear” him at birth, he saves that level of communication for emergency purposes, and mostly gives me insights or images that I finally realize are coming from him. To make sure that I understand something, or to make sure that he understands me, I use Theresa.
Gideon has never bred. The only folks who have wanted to use him as a stallion have had maiden mares, and I figure one of us at least should know what is going on! For those of you who are interested in his bloodlines, he is by Grange Finn Sparrow, out of The Lady Destiny. Grange is a purebred, imported Connemara stallion, who was twice
all-Ireland Pony Jumper Champion. He also came in third in the 1987 European Trail Riding Championships, and was second in the 1987 Austrian National 3-Day. When he was imported to the US, he competed successfully in Preliminary Jumpers, Hunters, and was field hunted. All of this, and only 14:2! The Lady Destiny had a bit of a grumpy outlook on life, so I wanted a stallion who was a total gentleman, and Grange certainly lived up to that quality, as well as being a superb athlete. I also wanted a small stallion, as Destiny was 1/8th Irish Draught, and that blood in a mare tends to throw foals who end up larger than their dams. Since Destiny was 16:2, and I am only 5’ 4” was heading for 50, I thought a smaller horse would be much nicer than a giant! Gideon ended up being 15:3 ½, and that is absolutely perfect for me.
Grange is a gray, but throws foals of unusual color, and Gideon was born buckskin. I was thrilled, since I like horses of color. As he’s matured, he has gotten much darker, and now is a sooty buckskin—almost a dark bay, but with dark pink skin.
The Lady Destiny came by her name in an unusual way. When my ex-husband and I brought Gray back to the States, we also brought over a ¾ TB, ¼ Irish Draught black mare by Gray’s sire, Hill Tarquin (TB). Hill Tarquin was by Hill Gale, an American TB of Nasrullah lines. The difficult temperament of these horses is legendary, and Gray certainly was no exception. Celtic Quest, the mare, though, was just as sweet as could be, and wound up being an excellent Preliminary event competitor. We bred her to an imported Hanoverian, Galaxy, and named the resulting brown colt Celtic Saga. The year that Saga was a yearling, we imported another colt and a filly by Hill Tarquin. The bay filly we named Finora, and she was the most difficult in temperament of the Hill Tarquins we owned. The day before the vet came to geld Saga at the age of two, when Finora was only three, she persisted in hassling Saga till he bred her. I watched the whole scenario unfold while I was washing dishes, and couldn’t run out in time to stop the process. Eleven months later, in the middle of February, Destiny was born. I was too busy with other horses in training to do much competing with her, but after my divorce, she went to Florida with a jumper trainer, and he competed her Preliminary, as well as some Intermediate. She died at the age of 14 from a pasture accident.
It is no accident, however, that people who come in contact with Gideon soon become aware that he has a strong sense of destiny. He is an incredibly wise being, who obviously understands the human language, and does his very best to be clear in his own efforts to communicate. He loves working as a team, whether as a teacher with people, with me in schooling and competition, or with Theresa in helping other animals. Through Theresa, he has a message he would like to share with you who are reading this:
"I am pleased that people and horses are beginning to relate more closely. There is much that we can offer each other in the horse human partnership. I am delighted to be a part of a new awakening, which is facilitating growth and healing. Kim and I both love to work in a team environment. There are now so many wonderful people contributing their gifts, and helping to bring about a powerful transformation. It is my pleasure to assist Kim in her teaching, and ultimately, in the healing of the person, the horse, and the world. This leads to more completeness and positive expression. As everyone works more closely together, this process becomes joyful as we learn new skills, and what it means to be in this world in an effective way!
My request is that you ask horses what they think and feel, and how to work through any awkward situations that may arise between you. The horses will do their best to help you, and they will find a way to get the message through. Thank you for taking the time to work with us, as it allows us to fulfill our destiny of horses working in harmony with people, to bring about a greater good for everyone. "
Dressage
bareback in halter
photo
taken: 2002, Linda Bayne
To
read more on Gideon, below I've listed a couple articles from Natural
Horse Magazine:
Volume
2, Issue 7, 2000—Silently Speaking, "A
Trio of Teachers--Gideon Goodheart, Kim Walnes, and The Gray Goose",
by Susan Rifkin Ajamian
Volume
3, Issue 4, 2001—Silently Speaking, "Synastry
- Improving Relationships Through Astrology", by Susan Rifkin
Ajamian
