Are you ready to meditate with Kari?
Make sure that you're laying down and you're all snuggly and comfortable in your bed.
Start to slow your breathing down so that you can relax your body.
Slow down your mind and just listen to the story.
Casey had gone to bed.
He'd brushed his teeth.
He was basically doing the same as you.
He was lying down in his bed staring at the ceiling.
He reached over and turned on his cowboy lamp.
The whole room was illuminated by cowboys riding on the back of horses,
Traveling along the walls.
As his lamp spinned around,
The horses moved around the room as if they were traveling through a prairie out in the Midwest somewhere far away.
Casey closed his eyes and took three deep breaths.
He knew when he took three deep breaths that he would travel into his dreams,
Travel into his past life once again.
His past life where he was 17,
It was a hundred years ago at least,
And he was a cowboy.
The three deep breaths took him deep into sleep.
Then Casey found himself on his ranch feeding Porky and Pie his two pigs.
He'd just emptied a big bowl of apple peels into the pen.
They were both really happy.
One of the cooks at the house was making apple pie.
He knew once he'd finished at the stable with Meadow that the apple pie would probably be ready.
His tummy was rumbling thinking about it.
Who doesn't like a good piece of apple pie,
He thought.
He was distracted by the thoughts for a moment,
But then he remembered he needed to get back to the stable to check Meadow's legs.
Meadow,
His horse,
Had been walking quite slow that day.
They did their normal rounds with the cattle,
Checking on all the coughs,
All the different animals,
Making sure everything was okay,
Making sure that everyone was on the field where they were supposed to be,
Just grazing happily away.
It had been quite a steady day there on the ranch.
He was tired,
Of course,
And sweaty and dirty,
But it had been a good day,
Except for Meadow.
He could sense that something wasn't right with her legs.
And when you have a horse and there's something wrong with your horse's legs,
It's very worrisome.
Because if there's anything wrong with Meadow's legs that can't be healed and fixed,
That would be the end of Meadow.
Casey's stomach turned at the thought of it.
He never wanted to have to say goodbye to Meadow.
Meadow,
His horse,
Was his best friend.
When he got to the stable,
He took off Meadow's saddle,
Hung everything up,
Grabbed a hold of the horse brush and started to brush her down.
Meadow's eyes closed as if she enjoyed the process.
Casey could feel the muscles twitch and relax in her back as he brushed her hair.
He brushed her mane.
He brushed down her legs.
And as the brush came over her thighs,
He switched to his hands and he brushed down over the bones in her lower legs.
He moved a little bit on her back legs,
Not sure what Casey was doing.
But Meadow did trust Casey.
And once she figured out that he was just checking on her,
She relaxed and let him.
He felt the left leg.
And then he checked the right leg.
Both of her legs felt okay,
Didn't feel like anything was broken.
There were no lumps,
No bumps.
Then he remembered that the best thing you can do for a horse is to let them walk in the ocean.
The ocean actually wasn't that far away from where Casey was situated,
There on the ranch.
He decided tomorrow he was going to take Meadow to go walk in the waves and just let her stand in the ocean.
Casey went back to the house and ate his apple pie.
He had two pieces.
He didn't even have any dinner,
He just ate two pieces of apple pie.
It was delicious,
Warm,
Steamy,
And the crust melted in your mouth.
The cook had sprinkled sugar all over the top of the pie,
It was perfect.
And then Casey took himself upstairs,
Laid on his bed and fell fast asleep quite quickly.
The rooster was singing its song the next morning and Casey woke up bright and early.
He pulled on the same clothes as yesterday,
Ran downstairs,
Grabbed a hot cup of coffee off the stove and then went to the barn to get Meadow.
Rather than ride Meadow he walked next to her,
Talking to her the whole way down to the beach.
The beach was about an hour away.
It was a nice walk.
He had to walk through a creek,
Over two different pastures,
And then eventually the wind shifted and changed and he could smell the salt in the ocean.
He took a big deep breath and smelt the seaweed,
That familiar smell.
Sometimes Casey can smell the ocean on the ranch if the wind blows just right.
He looked at Meadow and said we're almost there.
And Meadow reacted as if she could smell the ocean too.
She neighed really loudly and seemed to quicken her steps.
When they got down onto the beach,
Casey didn't have to lead Meadow into the ocean at all.
It was as if instinctively Meadow knew that this would be good for her.
She walked into the ocean and just stood there.
The waves lapped around her front legs and her back legs.
Casey walked into the ocean and stood next to her,
Stroking the side of her body the whole time they were there.
Casey felt as if the ocean was healing him too.
The water was cool and refreshing,
And the sand was soft underneath his bare feet.
He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach,
Over and over,
Over and over.
He couldn't help but feel almost hypnotized by the sound,
This repetitive,
Calming,
Soothing sound of the waves pulling up the beach and then pulling back down.
He stared out into the big,
Vast,
Wide blue ocean.
There was nothing but ocean in front of him.
Ocean to the left,
Ocean to the right,
Ocean everywhere.
And it seemed to go on forever and ever and ever,
As far as his eyes could see.
And then something very strange happened.
Casey saw in his mind,
Himself on a boat,
Drifting out there,
Fishing.
He could see himself in his mind.
He looked completely different.
He was older.
He had a beard.
The boat was rickety.
It looked as if it was handmade,
And he was out there with a really simple piece of fishing wire and a string.
And then Casey rubbed his eyes and blinked quickly,
And then all of a sudden all he saw again was ocean.
To the left,
To the right.
He wondered to himself,
What on earth was I just seeing in my mind?
Maybe it was me in another time.
How cool is that?
He thought to himself.
The sun was shining big and bright in the sky.
And him and Meadow stayed relatively cool because of the ocean,
Keeping them cool and refreshed.
Casey started to splash the ocean higher up,
Meadow's legs.
He rubbed over the bones in her legs,
As if to massage everything.
While she was there being healed in the ocean water,
Who would have thought there would have been some ancient magical healing properties to the ocean for horses?
I wonder how many years,
How long people had walked their horses into the ocean so that they could heal their legs and their ankles.
What was it about the ocean that did that,
He thought.
Then after an hour,
Casey decided it was time.
As both of them walked back up the beach,
He could tell it had done something.
Meadow seemed bouncier,
Stronger.
He climbed on her back and they trotted home.
They got home much faster than they got there.
Casey walked Meadow into the stables.
He fed her.
She looked happy.
She looked better.
He decided he was going to take her to the ocean at least once a week,
Just to make sure.
Maybe he should do that all the time,
He thought,
From now on,
Even if her legs were totally fine,
Just so it keeps her happy and healthy.
He needed his best friend to be happy and healthy.
What's a cowboy without a horse?
Especially a horse that's your best friend.
The end.
