Animal Nation: 2013

December 27, 2013

Coming soon!

Get on my mailing list so you don't miss its release.

December 16, 2013

You're Invited to my Ukrainian Party!

Order the book here.

Smachnoho i Slava Ukraina!
Eat good food and long live Ukraine!

Raisa Stone
Animal Communicator and Author
www.reisastone.com

November 09, 2013

November 07, 2013

Goodreads Review of my Stories

I blatantly reviewed my own stories LOL Hey, it's not as if I hid behind a screen name.

Here it is:

Being part of this book is a miraculous experience in itself. To meet so many other people who know that love survives death, is beautiful.

I have two stories in Miraculous Messages.

I'll See You, page 130, is about losing my young love in tragic circumstances:

"...We both loved roaming our rural community on warm nights. So as not to awaken my mother, Grant would gently tap on my bedroom window. I’d climb out and join him. We walked and talked. We lay down in the soft, fragrant dirt between rows of wheat...

He’d sacrificed his life...

...I was inconsolable. At his funeral, I couldn’t stop my ragged sobbing. I dropped two roses into Grant’s grave. A red one for passion, a white one for true love..."

Breathe, page 312, is about a beloved singing teacher who continues to tutor me from the spirit world:

"At my first lesson, I asked, “What are you going to teach me?” He replied, “What would you like to learn?”

I loved him from that moment. It was the love you feel for a teacher who humbles himself in order to elevate you...

..A woman took my elbow and guided me to an elderly lady, whom she told me was blind. The elderly lady said, “I could see Ralph. He was behind you.”..."

________________________

More at: www.reisastonewrites.com

October 23, 2013

Is Your Animal Angel With You? My Halloween newsletter

Pet Safety at Halloween

-Keep all pets under close supervision. Black cats are particularly at risk of injury from crazies

-Candy is toxic to pets, chocolate is lethal

-Create a safe, quiet space in the house or barn

-People and pets in costume usually terrify animals. Plan carefully

-Don't costume your pet. Costumes blunt their senses, humiliate them and invite aggression from other animals. Animal professionals are overwhelmed with behavioral problems after Halloween.

Quotes

"If there is a heaven, it's certain our animals are to be there.Their lives become so interwoven with our own, it would take more than an Archangel to detangle them."
~Pam Brown

"Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation."~Kahlil Gibran

"A good dog never dies. He always stays. He walks besides you on crisp autumn days when frost is on the fields and winter's drawing near. His head is within our hand in his old way."
~Mary Carolyn Davies

"Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim."
~Vicki Harrison
For the soul of every living thing is in the hand of God. ~Job 12:10

My Gift to You

Heal from the devastating grief of pet loss. When you apply for an animal angel session October 23-31, receive a generous 30% off my professional fee. You may enjoy your session any time into 2014.

This applies to sessions for animals in spirit only. You may include two pets in one hour. Only one must be in spirit. In fact, they may wish to connect with one another.

This offer means you can hear from two pets for only $105. Detailed notes are included. I need only a photo, work worldwide, and will give you details about your pets. This is for a full hour with me!

You must apply between October 23-31 for your animal angel session, and pay within 48 hours. You may have your session whenever you feel ready, over the next 12 months.

Apply here

Needed: Your Experience

Would you like to write about the loss of your pet?

I have a few spaces open in my upcoming book for your words about pet loss: saying goodbye, memorials to your pet, spirit visitations and reincarnation.

Please contact me through my website.

Pet Loss Interview

As I discussed pet loss extensively on this show, I thought this would be a good time to rebroadcast PAWSitive Radio's interview.

You'll also hear about my goofy Labrador's misguided attempt to sing Evita.

To enjoy the Animal Soul e-magazine on a regular basis, sign up for free on my website.

Animal Soul

E-Magazine

It's Halloween: Is Your Animal Angel With You?

They are, and they want to comfort you. The devastation of death is not the end. Halloween is a deeply spiritual holiday that's survived thousands of years. However you celebrate this sacred time of year---we have a spiritual need to acknowledge that not only must all creatures pass, but that their souls can contact us.

Pet loss is incredibly painful, and we live in a society that for the most part, doesn't recognize it as significant.

"'It' was only a dog...cat...horse...bird...rabbit...guinea pig," "You can get another one," and so on, add to our pain and feeling that there's something wrong with grieving a powerful loss.

When I lost my heart dog, Chant, I spiraled down into three months of complete inability to function. I put her body in a snow bank by my back door, and snapped, "She's fine!" at concerned queries. I was unable to work, gave up exercise, and sat in front of the TV chain smoking. It took two interventions by friends and family to surrender my darling to a pet funeral service.

I completely forgot what my grandmother had taught me about contacting the spirits. Now I see this temporary amnesia was necessary, so that I may help others through it.

Chant returned in a powerful vision. She showed me an immense circle of animals and people circling the Universe. As one died, another was born. "See," she said gently, "If no one died, there would be no new life."

Since then, she's often with me. At my side, in various rooms, out walking in Nature. Now and then, she expends the tremendous effort to materialize. I can actually touch her and smell her wonderful, familiar scent.

I live with a herd of loved ones, both animal and human, so large that their spirits overlap in my home. Strangers with strong intuition have approached me to say they see this horse, that dog walking with me.

Right now, they're surrounding me at my computer. Dogs at my feet, cats, bunnies and rodents on my lap, horses standing behind, birds on my shoulder, and some wonderful people just hanging out on the couch.

You can read more about the latter in two of my stories in Miraculous Messages From Heaven, Chicken Soup for the Soul's latest release. My dear ones in spirit are also sources of wise counsel.

Though the reality of death shatters me, it's immensely comforting to know without a doubt that souls are eternal. Over and over, I connect animal angels with grieving owners. I ask pets to give me details about their lives on earth, that can be confirmed. They leave no doubt it's really them. Surviving pets are able to fully grieve their own loss; sometimes, death is even harder on them than on us. They have no distractions. With contact, devastation gives way to a sense of peace.

The survival of an ancient holiday like Halloween reaffirms that we each have an overwhelming need to acknowledge the soul's eternity and spirit contact. It's the time of year when Nature's growth gives way to Nature's pruning, and the walls between worlds are thinnest. This is the time of year it's easiest to contact pets in spirit. Whether you believe they're at a place called the Rainbow Bridge, Heaven, or somewhere that Just Is. They love you as much as you love them.

In honour of this sacred time, I have a gift for you. If you have an animal angel you'd like to hear from, I'll give you a fee break for a few days this month. As long as you apply October 23-31st, you can have your session any time. Details are to your left.

Also available: powerful learning tools to contact your animal angels at your own pace. They may appear in a dream, in a glimpse from the corner of your eye, in a soft touch on your body when "no one's there."

Yours in the love of animals,
Raisa Stone

I'm Dr. Dolittle. Questions?

My Website

My Blog

St. Francis Blessing of the Animals

What a pleasure it was to donate an energy healing session to the St. Francis Blessing of the Animals charity event at St. Matthew's Anglican Church in Abbotsford, BC! Proceeds were divided among six local animal rescues, for both tame and wild creatures, and we enjoyed a lovely vegetarian dinner. Thank you to Whatcom Road Veterinary Hospital for taking on so much of the organizing.

_________________________

Look for my stories of how love survives death: "I'll See You" and "Breathe."

Available in bookstores everywhere.
I'm available for book signings within BC,
as well as workshops worldwide!

October 12, 2013

Ask the Animals

“Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you."~Job 12:7-8

October 07, 2013

Miraculous Love in Heaven

Wow oh wow! The UPS man just handed me a box of books. Chicken Soup has published two of my stories about my relationships with loved ones in spirit. I am so excited!!!!!
My stories are called Breathe and I'll See You. They're on pages 130 and 312. Wowwwwwww!!!!!

http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Soup-Soul-Miraculous-Connections/dp/1611599261

October 06, 2013

Reisa Stone: Wild Geese

To honour this incredible changing season, I'd like to reprint a piece I wrote two years ago, about being swept up in the migration of Canada Geese:

Today's Animal Communication miracle left me breathless. I felt an urgent sense to drive across town to our beautiful regional park. As a matter of principle regarding privatization of the wild, I disagree with the parking charge. so I was going to park outside the gates and walk the extra distance on the road. By the time I was halfway there, I had to pee so badly, I trespassed into a farmer's green field (with bushes :-D).

I heard the wild honking of countless geese. They drowned out tractor and boat noise and the clip clop of a horse on the road. As I stood in the field of long grass and clover, a flock of over one hundred Canada Geese rose from the lagoon an eighth of a mile away. They flew in a curving line east, towards me. As they reached a point above my head, they arc'ed to the south. If you dropped a plumb line from the exact centre of the flock, there I'd be.

They were only twenty feet in the air. The sound was overwhelming; nothing existed but the geese, the sky and me. I could see the dark masks on their faces, the undersides of their beaks and the softness of their light gray breasts. The individual feathers on their wings undulated in the autumn sun. My skin tingled.

A few seconds later, another flock took the same path. Within half an hour, I experienced a similar phenomenon thirteen times. With the exception of two flocks and three straggling couples, the geese flew straight towards me, and turned south precisely over my head. It was as if I were the centre of the gyre, the strange magnet on which these creatures pivot to their winter home.

I had the stray thought, "Eeeek I hope they don't go to the bathroom on me." One answered, "Don't worry, we went before we left home." It made me smile. He sounded like a precocious five year old, with the baritone voice of an adult.

I stood there for another ten minutes. The lagoon and sky were silent.

I'm new to this area. I had no idea that geese live in huge numbers in this partially hidden lagoon, let alone that they all migrate on a certain day. I can only honour the fact that over one thousand Canada Geese chose to fly south at 4:45 pm, October 27, 2011. I was there.

Raisa Stone,

Expert Animal Communicator
www.reisastone.com

To receive the complimentary Animal Soul Newsletter, with informative articles about animal care, communication and training, visit my website.

Copyright 2013 Raisa Stone. All rights reserved. If you wish to reprint material from this blog, contact Raisa Stone. Must be reprinted in entirety with all links and credit intact.

October 04, 2013

Horses Are Not

Have you ever loved a quote so much, you want to roll in it, kiss it, eat it, dream it, LIVE it, share it with the world?

I found one, by Dr. Lissa Rankin.

"Horses are not people pleasers. They’re not horse pleasers either. They aren’t motivated by the desire to be liked or even to be helpful. But they are motivated by clean, positive energy. If they read that in you, they’ll bump their life force up against yours and basically mimic everything you do—happily."
— Dr. Lissa Rankin

Have a great weekend!

Raisa Stone

I'm Dr. Dolittle. Questions?

www.reisastone.com

For more great quotes and tips on animal communication and welfare, sign up for my free newsletter, Animal Soul.

October 01, 2013

Seven Ways to Keep Cats Happy Indoors

Why keep cats indoors? Outdoor cats kill wildlife, and are themselves prey for coyotes, dogs and crazies. They get poisoned, lost and hit by cars. They acquire toxic parasite loads and diseases. In climates without a hard frost (like the West Coast), they'll repeatedly infest your home with fleas.

Cats do need their natural instincts honoured. Four ways to do this:

1. Harness and leash train your kitty. Exploring the world through your cat's senses is enjoyable, and deepens your bond.

2. It's easy to build a wire pen in your yard, or buy a pre-fab Catio. Add climbing shelves from where kitty can view birds and squirrels, and everyone's safe and happy.

3. Play vigorous "hunt and chase" games with your cat, using toys.

4. Make at least part of your cat's diet raw. This includes organ meats and "safe" bones. Muscle meats alone do not contain sufficient nutrients.

5. Grow cat grass.

6. Neuter your cat to curb much of the roaming instinct.

7. Plug in bird DVDs. Your cat will watch for hours, and even bat at the screen. Fun to watch!

On a very serious note: a new study by Environment Canada shows that a shocking 270 million birds are killed annually by domestic cats. The average house cat kills 10-12 birds and other small wildlife daily. This is up to 4400 creatures per year. It is irresponsible to destroy this much wildlife, particularly in a world where their habitat is shrinking rapidly.

Please consider keeping kitty indoors, and also building an enclosed Catio. Everyone can rest easier.

Yours in the love of animals,
Raisa Stone
I'm Dr. Dolittle. Questions?
Website
Facebook

This article may be shared using social media buttons. For reprints, contact Raisa for permission. Must be reprinted in entirety, with all links intact.

This article was first published in Raisa's Animal Soul Newsletter, then in: Abbotsford Today, Langley Today, and on the website for Habitat Haven.

September 29, 2013

From "The Little Prince"

"Men have forgotten this truth. But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

September 25, 2013

Reisa Stone: Are You A "Pet Parent"?

I read a discussion about whether it's politically correct to call yourself a "pet parent," or to call your pets "fur babies" and the like.

Here is my response.

One of the really fun things about my job as an Animal Communicator: I get to tell people how their pets view the relationship, and what they call their human companions.

This is quite diverse.

Some animals call humans "Mom" or "Dad." They may call only one person this endearment, while calling the other human their given name. This speaks to the closeness of the relationships.

In families where a pet is deeply bonded to one person only, they may refer to the others only as "him" or "her." Occasionally with a touch of snark. I have a professional commitment to relay a pet's words verbatim, and struggle to relay this diplomatically.

Some animals view us as their mates, even as marriage partners, though they're clearly aware that a sexual/reproductive relationship is not possible or even desirable.

I was stunned when a battered, very old cat I rescued asked me to marry him, "Because you're the only person who's ever really loved me."

My acceptance of his profoundly humble affection for me redefined my idea of what true love means. I found a room in my heart I hadn't known existed. This experience also led me to explore our past life together, and how it had manifested in the present.

The latter helped me bear my own distress over his miserable condition when found. However, I'm still experiencing Internet bullying and harassment from his abusers. That's one of the risks with animal rescue.

Some pets view us as equal companions, and call us by our given names.

Further to this: It's intriguing when I know a person by a shortened name such as Cindy, and their pet insists it's "Cynthia." There's a dignified formality to this.

I've also run across many animals who consider humans to be their babies. It's quite dissonant to hear a person talk about their "baby," when the dog calls the same person, "my daughter."

Again, size and species are irrelevant to this discussion. A Maltese may view you as their child, while an immense draft horse may view you as a parental figure, and a guinea pig, your soul mate and life companion.

Animals experience relationships first and foremost through their hearts. Without exception, their definition of the relationship carries a beautiful dignity within.

Animals are deeply loving, but not the least bit sentimental.

I find that disclosing these names gives a much greater clarity to the relationship. I prefer calling pet owners in general, "guardians."

I've never once heard an animal call themselves, "fur baby." Without exception, animals are far too rightly proud of the glorious asset humans lack, to infantilize it and themselves with such a phrase.

How would you feel about being called "skin mother"? That would be......eeeeeeeeek.

Even when pets view you as Mom or Dad, they don't see themselves as eternal babies. They're describing a familial connection. Again, it's dignified.

To me, fur baby is where pet naming steps over a line and becomes less about the animal, more about what's going on for the person.

Animals deserve our respect, not our projections.

I recommend sitting quietly with your pet, breathing in rhythm, and simply asking what they'd like to be called. You may receive an enlightening reply.

Kind regards,
Raisa Stone
                                                I'm Dr. Dolittle. Questions?
   www.reisastone.com

Author: -Awaken the Gift of Animal Communication
   -Sweet Kisses: Peaceful, Low Cost Dental
                 Care for Your Pet
   -Heart to Heart with Animals

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September 12, 2013

Reisa Stone: Another Day, Another Animal Rescue

Ninety degrees yesterday, and I spot a little white Poodle cross panting in a car. He is frantically nosing the bare inch of cracked window.

After asking what I'm doing, a woman in the parking lot says sarcastically, "Well, why don't you call the police, then?"

No doubt I live in the animal cruelty capital of Canada, where Animal Control from another city makes the 130 mile round trip to help with our overabundance of strays and dumped dogs. I have more rescue work here in one square mile than I can handle. I'm constantly buying food for other peoples' pets.

I smile at a-holes who keep their dogs chained 24/7, so I can legally enter their properties to play and give water. I cry for the rabbits who fry, freeze and starve to death in outdoor hutches.

I inform snarly people that no, you can't just throw a horse out in a field and expect him to thrive. Hoof trimming, worming and even supplemental feeding on a bare pasture is news to many.

I constantly peel animals off the road, both domestic and wild. It's clear hitting them with cars and repeating the process, is the undeclared local sport. Half the time, they're still alive. I dig through bloodied possum bodies to find if pouch pinkies survived. I gently place a blanket over a shattered but breathing baby raccoon while two little girls watch and sob.

The newspaper refuses to publish my well worded plea for motorists to stop when they've hit an animal.

I launched a campaign to find homes for two abandoned, badly matted cats who were being fed by the Nature Preserve people, and living hopefully under the bird feeders. I painfully lost the fledgling I scooped from the cats' claws.

In spring, Craigslist and bulletin boards are rife with kitten sales, and hundreds of citizens proudly parade malformed and sickly puppies clearly purchased from one of the local mills. I want to weep at the crooked skeletons, the runny eyes and painfully displaced joints.

We could always tell when we were getting a mill pup at the vet clinic, and knew the prognosis was much poorer than for a well bred animal. Their immune systems are weak.

These same puppies are dragged along carelessly on steaming pavement, their foot pads burning. As adults, they suffer in the back of pickups, though this practice is illegal under the Motor Vehicle Act.

In a region labeled The Green Heart, a popular tourist destination, I stand outside the rows of overwhelming factory farms, sending love and reassurance to thousands of suffering animals. Black and white faces peer mournfully from a barn door. Here, even dairy cows are not permitted outdoors. They stand on concrete 24/7, in the midst of lush grass they can't touch.

I go for a Nature walk, and find an illegally dumped pile of rotten carcasses. I pray for them through nausea.

My town has the most churches per capita than any other Canadian city. Also the most Rebel flags I've seen, and the first time I've witnessed swastikas carved into an upscale neighbourhood's public picnic tables. Annually, they have a combined church service that draws thousands to the sports arena. They push evangelizing the globe.

Imagine a world that looks like this town.

If their God at all approves of their treatment of animals, I never want to meet him.

Customer service is concerned, pages the car owner. She is MAD. She is IRRATIONAL, something about, "Me and my husband always sit in the car with the dog."

Well, they weren't when I found the little guy cooking to death.

I walk with her to the car, she clearly angry that I'm doing so. "Whatcha gonna do, give the police our license plate?" she spits.

"If necessary," I say calmly, and stand by as she takes the little guy out for a walk. He is OVERJOYED. He jumps out of that car like it's a hot oven---which it is. He dives for cool grass on the boulevard.

I drive by slowly and give the angry woman a thumbs up. She is a mass of thunderclouds. The little Poodle winks.

Raisa Stone
Expert Animal Communicator
www.reisastone.com

Copyright 2013 Raisa Stone. May be shared freely using social media buttons. Reprint requests considered, in writing. Must be reprinted in whole, with links intact.

September 09, 2013

Sweet Kisses: Peaceful, Low Cost Dental Care for Your Pet

It's here! My step by step guide on the stress free, inexpensive way to clean your pet's teeth at home.

If your pet has bad breath or dirty teeth, you'll want to learn how to do this. Have your attempts at teeth cleaning been a struggle? Ease is all in how you set up your sessions. I'll teach you how to create a pleasant bonding experience, and save on dental bills.

The tools are simple and inexpensive. The guidance is priceless. As a former veterinary assistant who despaired at watching entire sets of animal teeth get pulled due to lack of regular cleaning (and inaccuracies from the pet food industry), I hope Sweet Kisses will help many, many pets and owners.

Sweet Kisses focuses on cleaning dog and cat teeth, and also discusses dental care for: equines, rabbits, guinea pigs, hedgehogs, hamsters and birds.

For just $20, you'll develop a more trusting relationship with your pet---and enjoy those sweet kisses.

Instant download on my website:

http://www.reisastone.com/learn-animal-communication.php

Have a wonderful week,

Raisa Stone

Expert Animal Communicator

September 08, 2013

Animal Nation: Reisa Stone: Communicate With Your Pet, Part II

September 07, 2013

Reisa Stone: Blog Links

September 02, 2013

Reisa Stone: Could You Be An Animal Communicator?

Here is a reprint of my recent article, published by Yahoo!:

Everyone talks to their pets. I hear them reply. I've had this gift from childhood, and you probably did too. In North American society, it's not considered "normal" to feel such extreme empathy with non-human species, that we can hear them. The good news is, anyone can re-learn the intuitive skills to understand what animals think, feel and want.

I love my job. I help animals make themselves understood. Sometimes, a session makes the difference between a pet owner deciding to really work on an issue, and getting rid of the animal. It's very gratifying to hear that my work helped a person and their companion achieve harmony.

Here are five amazing things about being an Animal Communicator:

1. Pets are eager to speak.

They're constantly trying to communicate with their loved ones. The smallest effort on your part to acknowledge their messages, will result in clearer communication. They usually only vocalize when a message is short and urgent. Most of their conversations are silent, and conveyed through telepathy.

If an animal is exhibiting distressing behavior, there's a good reason behind it. Visit your vet first, to rule out physical causes.

Animal Communicators reveal the reasons behind such behaviors as: inappropriate soiling, aggression, fearfulness, resistance to training, anxiety, depression, destructiveness, etc. Often, the cause isn't apparent, and it's usually unique.

I've spoken with dogs who are aggressive because their owner has unresolved issues from a past assault (they're protecting her!), horses who are losing classes at shows because they're grieving a former barn mate, and cats who avoid the litter box because they hate sharing.

Like us, animals have color, odor and texture preferences. I once spoke with a dog who was peeing in the house because she hated her pink T-shirt! As I only had a plain photo of her face, her owner was astonished that her dog had conveyed such specific information.

What all these pets had in common was their eagerness to express their points of view. Just talking will start to relieve distressing symptoms. From there, I suggest further resources: training classes, a productive activity, desensitization.

In every instance, the pet has thanked me for listening to them.

2. You already have six intuitive senses. They only need practice to grow.
They are:

Hearing (clairaudience)
Seeing (clairvoyance)
Tasting (clairgustation)
Smelling (clairaliance)
Feeling (clairsentience)
Knowing (claircognizance)

These are all legitimate ways to understand animal messages. If you've ever known who is calling before picking up the phone, or known something "in your gut," then you're already in touch with strong intuitive messages.

Evaluate which of your senses are strongest, and focus on strengthening them. As you do, the others will also grow. I have tools on my website for developing your intuition.

I have use of all six. Two are uncommon, but often provide me with valuable information: smelling and tasting. With these, I've been able to tell clients what food their pet eats (and what they'd like to), and even sometimes identify specific brands of household products that are irritating animals and causing allergic symptoms.

The ability to be this specific also establishes confidence in the client that I'm actually communicating with their pet.

3. Animal consciousness is in the special "zone" we achieve through meditation.

You need a regular meditation practice. It doesn't have to be boring.You need to still your mind and suspend judgments in order to hear animal messages. Meditation can be still, or consist of movement such as yoga or walking in Nature. Some people find sports practice to be meditative. Music and dance can also serve as meditative tools.

4. Animal Communication has its basis in both ancient spiritual wisdom and in quantum physics.

Physicists are now finding the explanation for telepathy in the energetic emissions present in all objects and life forms. Animal Communicators read these energetic messages.

Former Apollo 14 astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell writes about this extensively. Dr. Bernie Siegel, renowned author of "Love, Medicine and Miracles," has gone public with his skill of Animal Communication.

Don't worry. You don't need a PhD or MD in order to be an Animal Communicator. I do find it useful to have the scientific facts at hand for curious inquirers.

In my own Ukrainian culture, we honor this gift to the extent we all acknowledge it on Christmas Eve.

Humanity would not have been able to survive, evolve or domesticate animals without being able to communicate. In conversations with a man from Ghana, I learned his surprise that most North Americans can't hear animals.

Animal Communication is our proud human heritage.

5. Practice makes (nearly) perfect.

In order to become reliable, you need to speak with many animals and verify basic facts.

I recommend practicing with animals you don't know, but with whom you have permission to speak. Starting with your own pets lacks objectivity. If their issues reflect your own, it will be much harder to hear them. It's always easier to look at someone else.

Your Internet friends are a valuable asset. Ask people you've never met to send you clear photos of their pets, along with a few questions. Request that the photos show the open eyes, and don't have any environmental clues such as toys, tack, beds, harnesses, etc. You'll find yourself flooded with practice materials!

After speaking with someone's pet, verify your information. Don't become discouraged by your misses. No one in the world is 100% accurate in their profession. An Animal Communicator pulls information from "thin air," which is reason enough to be proud of your successes. 70% accuracy is an acceptable standard for professional intuitives.

Animal Communication is a rewarding profession that can help countless animals and people to develop harmonious relationships. I feel grateful to both have and to teach these skills.

__________________

Enjoy Awaken the Gift of Animal Communication and Heart to Heart, guided journeys that will zoom you into the "animal zone" of consciousness. If you have any difficulty tuning out distracting thoughts in order to meditate: these learning tools engage the part of your brain that needs to be entertained :-D

To access my instructional materials, click here.

I hope you enjoyed the long weekend. Have a lovely week!
Yours in the love of animals,
Raisa Stone

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To receive the complimentary Animal Soul Newsletter, with informative articles about animal care, communication and training, visit my website.

Copyright 2013 Raisa Stone. All rights reserved. If you wish to reprint material from this blog, contact Raisa Stone. Must be reprinted in entirety with all links and credit intact. By their terms, this Yahoo! article may be linked to, but not reprinted.

Raisa Stone: Natural Horse Wisdom

When we are young and thought foolish, we sometimes have the greatest wisdom. Forty years ago, long before "natural" horsemanship became a trend, I'd arrive at the barn at 5 am so I could use the arena or head off for the trails unseen.

I was a kid when I started leaving saddle and bridle in the bushes, and enjoyed the forest in harmony with the horse. Or completed a jump course in the silent arena.

No one saw me, and I told no one. I grew up in British Horse Society Pony Club protocol community, and to ride without tack was not only grounds for grounding or firing, but severely declasse.

If you rode without, it meant you were too poor to afford it, or too uneducated to know how to use it. At least that's what my Dad said. I got my first pro horse job at 12 and had big dreams, so I listened.

Once I earned my driver's license, I made trips to small towns where cowboys held bareback horsemanship competitions. It was so much fun compared to the more traditional classes at home. I hid my ribbons.

My sisters are timid riders, and gave me grief for racing on the dirt access roads between Manitoba grain fields. One burst into tears while accompanying me. To them, riding is for rings. I'll give them credit for achieving Lifeguard status, while I stalled at Intermediate.

My riding role models were two young neighbourhood women who didn't give a damn about the unspoken rules. One rode her sweet albino mare Sheba all over creation, bareback. I was so enthralled, one day I followed them for an hour.

Our unique suburb had rows of houses and basic shopping amenities among acreages that held horse facilities---from humble backyard pastures to competition barns---gentle clay paths rather than sidewalks, and expansive green space.

In summer, we used the outdoor hockey rink as a central practice ring, and played with our horses in each others' yards. Galloping your horse around the school track guaranteed the mean girls and other bullies backed off. Horses have that magic. Plus I rode better than the chief mean girl, and had the arrogance to wear English boots and dirty breeks to class.

Our back alley
Photo: Dan McKay

Just another day in my neighbourhood
Photo: Ken Howell

My first "real" boyfriend at 14, told me he'd fallen in love at first sight because of the way I look riding a Palomino bareback.

My friends and I rode to 7-11 without crossing a main road. Charleswood was a lot like Mr. Ed's neigh-bourhood.
_______

My poor mother drove around frantically looking for her eight year old child. I was over a mile from home, my gaze fixed alternately on Sheba's snowy tail and her magical hoof prints on the damp path as I strolled behind her. Why her rider didn't mind me, I don't know. It was part of her Centaur mystique.

"Brat!" my seven and eight years senior sisters said when they finally pulled me into the car. They'd thought the shenanigans were over after I persuaded Mom to drag a washtub out to the curb, and posted a sign: Free Horse Water.

Beside the zinc tub, I hopefully refreshed a stack of grass on a daily basis. Once, I emptied a sack of Quaker Oats, after which Mom went back to bed with a cold cloth on her forehead.

Santa's reindeer required a bale of hay in the house (plus the washtub), so I don't know why she was surprised.

"Eight flakes in a bale, and nine reindeer. Okay, everyone has to share a bit with Rudolph." Strategies like this kept my mind going for days.

Mom was raising us single, and it took time to accumulate quarters for pony lessons from our Metis neighbours every few days. I felt like I couldn't breathe without daily horse contact.

My crafty lure occasionally drew an offer of a thrilling ride up our driveway on horses who seemed immense and infinitely patient. I suspect the cheerful riders were my sisters' acquaintances, but they aren't saying.

The other local rebel, I couldn't follow. She rode a wavy-tailed, fiery tri-coloured Paint (I think) mustang. She was an Amazon. Bareback, she sat easily while her horse reared and pawed the air. They jumped formidable drainage ditches and angered lawn owners with hoof gouges. They possibly floated through walls and walked on water.

I remember this girl with her long dark hair as wild as her mustang's black and chestnut mane, her mouth wide open with laughter. People called her a bad name, though the only male I can recall seeing her with was her horse. Females who belong fully to ourselves, well, we suffer penalties.

People have commented I had a "girl crush," which leaves me incredulous at the base thoughts of the non-horsey. I lusted after the Paint. After the girl's style, her careless freedom and primal spirituality.

I'm the great granddaughter of Ukrainian Cossacks. 5000 years ago, we tamed the horse. We grew intimate with its wild heart, subsisted on mare's milk turned to cheese and potent liquor. I can think of nothing better than living a nomadic life on horseback, evenings spent singing by firelight while our mounts breathe and graze nearby.

Riding horses without bridle or saddle have been some of the best times of my life, and created some of my closest relationships.

Unfortunately, my current impeded balance from a spinal crush injury (not horse related, thank goodness) meant that last time I did it---at 50---I slid off. I pride myself on it being "very slowly," and only after the horse bucked.

Unwilling to face the realities of disability and weight gain, I even briefly managed a Cossack-style underneck hang.

This gorgeous animal was lying in the pasture, sorrel coat gleaming in the sun. Who wouldn't throw a leg over? Long gone are the days I could hop up on 16 hands without a stirrup. Opportunity met regression to teenagerhood.

His bucking was my fault. I didn't fully obtain his permission. I neglected to determine that he was ticklish. My desire overrode my animal communication skills.

Buddy stopped quickly once I lay sprawled by his back feet. He turned a sardonic gaze and said, "I was sunbathing, a$$h##e!"

Despite my excitement that I only tore up my knee, my doctor sighed heavily and made me promise to use a saddle. However, she didn't mention a bridle.

Raisa Stone
Expert Animal Communicator
www.reisastone.com

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