| October
2001
Dear Mary
- I spent the weekend lavishing in your wonderful "She
Flies Without Wings" and it has come into my life at
such a perfect time. As a child, like you, I was a horse -
my father said a racehorse - "all legs". Recess
at school was a ritual of us "fillies" flying out
to our corner of the school yard where we would scratch our
stalls into the dirt and take turns being released and running
in the field by the "farmer". ( a position nobody
wanted but we had to take turns). My reality with horses has
always been limited to weekend trail rides - afternoons on
rental horses and weekends at the Flying U Ranch once a year.
Yet, horse has always been in my blood.
I am fortunate
to have found a man who was a cowboy in his last life (he
thinks) and is an accountant in this one. His passion for
horses and intrigue at "city slickers" led us to
my giving him a cattle roundup adventure for his 50th birthday.
A nightmare story - suffice to say that my young Arab mount
decided he'd had enough of me and my 48 year old bones hit
the rocks from a full gallop. Hurt pride, severely hurt pelvis
- no breaks. End of planned week long adventure on 2nd day.
It was time to look at some things that were not coming together
for me. My tenseness and hesitancy in life was being reflected
back at me by this marvellous creature. Deep inside, I had
known I was down long before I hit the ground.
Back in
Vancouver - Larry wisely suggested that I get back on the
horse - this time at lessons. Over and over again - I feel
the fear and do it anyway. I have discovered I am actually
afraid of horses. These magnificent animals that I have always
identified with are very patient with me. Slowly we are mounting
my fear of grooming, saddling and handling their glorious
forms. It challenges me twice a week as I enter their stalls.
The fear rising up as fast as my heart rate. As I have persisted
and face this fear - my life is changing.
I am the
mother of two grown girls - 23 and 25. When my eldest was
14, she became very ill with what was diagnosed as "chronic
fatigue" her synchronized swimming, school and health
went out the window. Conventional medicine couldn't help.
The naturopathic supplements were adding up and not much was
changing. I met a woman who told me of another practice -
Homeopathy. After one visit to the homeopath - I had my daughter
back. The vitality flowed back into her and I was hooked.
It would take 2 years before I was ready and had listened
to myself enough - I returned to school to study homeopathy
at 41.
I have
found my passion - homeopathy. But what to do with it - I
opened my practice and yet something was missing. Where was
the joy at seeing health return? Along the school path, I
was drawn to a book called "The Secret Language of Eating
Disorders" by Peggy Claude-Pierre. Although I have never
had any personal experience with Anorexia/bulimia - her story
riveted me. I completed my paper for graduation on Homeopathy
and Eating Disorders. Yet, I didn't pursue this area - I now
see that this was my stuckness. This was what is now flowing,
thanks to riding. It is as if the creative juices and drive
have been freed by those trusting beauties who carry me on
their backs every week.
As for
your book - I began to turn down pages when I found them particularly
inspirational - suffice to say that more than 1/3 of the pages
are now neatly folded down. Of course, a big smile came to
my face when I saw that you have made mention of homeopathy
and how it has touched your and your horse's lives.
So life
has come full circle for me, from the horse I loved to be
as a child, through healing and onward towards my speciality
of treating people who suffer with eating disorders via homeopathy.
I incorporated my practice 2 years ago under the name "Pegasus
Classical Homeopathy" - this after asking the universe
for a name and being drawn to a sculpture in a story a week
later. My Pegasus sits proudly on my desk, ready to take flight.
Just like me.
I hope
to inspire my patients towards health with homeopathy and
with horses. I plan to set up a program similar to the physical
therapy programs that are done with horses. I know that their
spirits can soar, and thank you for being an important part
of my path towards this passion.
Much success
with your program and book. I'm going to dust off that exercise
ball and take up your fitness advice as well. Any chance you
are planning a trip into this neck of the woods. Perhaps I
could arrange something for you here? I look forward to hearing
from you, if time permits. With much affection, Bev VanHatten,
Pegasus Classical Homeopathy
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