Mule Days Trust Technique Sessions Part 2B: Fear And How The Trust Technique Can Be Used To Create New Associations And Heal The Nervous System Response From Trauma-Example- Cowboy's Horror

I talk with Christy about how The Trust Technique can help her mule Cowboy dump his traumatic memories.

In this article, I discuss the presentation of old fear and trauma that is stuck in the memory and body of one of the mules I was asked to help with the Trust Technique. This post is a continuation of the Fear Series (Click Here) from my Trust Technique sessions during Leatherwood Mule Days.

Cowboy is a 14-hand, 5-year-old black mule with a sweet face. It is obvious to me that his owner, Christy, adores him. When I ask her how I can help her with him, she tells me she would like my help teaching her how to help him overcome his traumatic past. She explains to me that when he gets frightened, she can't reach him. She feels disconnected from him, and nothing she does can soothe him in the moment.

I tell her the Trust Technique can help. I ask her to give me his history, and she does. He was started well, slowly and kindly. At three years old, he was sold to a man who took him on a 30-mile pack trip in the mountains. He got terrible rubs and soreness from ill-fitting gear and more work than his young body was ready for.

While still sore from this trip, the packer's young son tried to ride him. Cowboy came unglued from nobody noticing he was in pain, and threw the child off his back, badly hurting the child. The owner and his wife wanted to shoot Cowboy on the spot but decided teaching him a lesson by tying him up, starving him and restricting water for five days was a better idea. After that they sold him.

A mule dealer bought him and put some weight back on him, then sold him on to Christy, who has had him for a year and a half. She says his past makes her sad and almost physically sick to her stomach when she thinks about it. She'd almost bought Cowboy when his breeder had initially offered him for sale. She wishes she had, as it would have saved Cowboy the horror he went through.

I am watching Cowboy while Christy is telling me his sad tale. I see him getting more anxious, licking, walking around his stall and breathing harder than he should be. He is picking up the feeling of his past from Christy's emotions as she tells me his tale. I used not to understand the extent to which animals and humans share feelings, but now, with all the experience I have gained helping animals and their owners with the Trust Technique, I am very aware that Cowboy's reactions are coming directly from Christy sharing his past with me.

I ask Christy for a chance to work with Cowboy on a rope so I can get a sense of what he's feeling. She puts a halter and a rope on Cowboy. I can see growing concern in his face and body as I enter the stall. His eyes widen and move less. His head raises, and his neck stiffens. There is a lot of tension in his whole body. I can feel his heart racing in my own heart. After working with the Trust Technique for several years, I now strongly feel the animal's reaction in my own body. I always did but I did not stop to recognize that the nervous system response is not my own but the animal's. His nervousness is now palpable to me.

I think of what must be racing through this mule's head—a stranger entering his space in an unfamiliar environment. At one time he lived a good life with his mule buddies on the ranch where he was born. At two and a half years old, he was taken away from there, brought to a new ranch where he knew no one, and was not treated well, hurt, ignored and then abused. Then, on to another ranch, and when things were adjusting for him a bit and he was making friends, he was moved again. He is now with Christy, and things are good, but here he is in a new place with a stranger in his space. He must wonder what is to happen to him next. He has only past experiences to draw from. Is he about to be moved? Is another round of traumatic events about to start? The mule has no way of knowing and little trust that things will be alright.

As I near Cowboy, I stop for a moment when I see the first increase in his nervousness. I get present and wait for a moment to finish my approach. Christy hands me the rope. I stand very still next to his side and watch him. I see his unease. I see tension in his neck and back. I see his wide, barely blinking eyes. I can feel my heart and his heart beating faster than normal.

I still my mind and offer Cowboy a feeling of peace. Christy leaves the stall, and I stand next to Cowboy. He starts to relax a bit, but then he grows concerned about a noise from outside the stall. He raises his head, points his ears toward the noise and stares. New tension enters his body. I come out of the present moment and regard him. He begins to move. I let him but hold on to the end of the rope. He pulls against me as he circles the stall. I do not pull on him. He stops. His body and mind relax a bit. I offer him the feeling of the present moment again. He relaxes some again, and then a new concern arises. This time he feels a need to check out something in the corner of the stall he is standing in. I come out of the present moment and walk to the corner with him. I regard him as he sniffs the wall. When he relaxes a little I again offer him the feeling of peace through being present.

I regard Cowboy watching something outside his stall.

Cowboy eventually realizes that I am seeing him, feeling his concerns and understanding his needs. I am opening back up a channel of communication that he has given up on with humans. Even those who love him miss the subtle signs. Through my work with the Trust Technique, I can help Christy to open this channel back up with Cowboy so that she can let him know that she sees, feels and understands him and that she will help him not to feel scared when he needs her to. In this way, they will build their connection and confidence, and Cowboy will be able to relax more in his life.

Christy will learn the importance of regarding Cowboy's unpeace. Just listening to him without judgement. She will also learn the importance of holding the space of true peace which is the present moment with out giving into feelings of feeling sorry for him, which can amplify his traumatized state instead of healing it.

Christy told me she had had a chiropractor work on him. The chiropractor said Cowboy was tight everywhere, worked on his body to release some tension, and prescribed a supplement of calming herbs.

Cowboy is tight because his nervous system is stuck in a sympathetic (fight/flight) pattern from all the trauma in his past. He lives scared. To have someone really see and understand his concerns and then be able to offer him a feeling of real peace is the fix. This will allow him to calm his mind and reevaluate that in the present moment, all is well. Instead of automatically reacting in a sympathetic pattern he will be able to generate new and authentic responses to his environment. When he is not sure about something he will know that he can tune into Christy to help him. While the calming herbs and chiropractic appointments will help, the real fix is the work of the Trust Technique.

Christy does a good job at bring Cowboy's mind down with the Trust Technique