Blogcast: Horses Teach Us Forgiveness
S02:E31

Blogcast: Horses Teach Us Forgiveness

Episode description

In this blogcast, I share this week’s horse wisdom blog talking about forgiveness. Radical acceptance can help us to forgive ourselves, which can help our rejection sensitive dysphoria and can help us learn from the horses and from the world around us.

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) You're listening to the Feathermane Soul Blogcast, an

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audio reading of the blogs posted on Feathermane

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Soul.

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Blogs are read by Kit Kaelstow, spiritual storyteller.

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For links or additional information associated with the

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blog, please visit feathermanesoul.com slash blog and

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click on the title you're interested in.

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Enjoy this blog post.

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This is the Feathermane Soul Blogcast for June

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13th, 2026.

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Horse Wisdom.

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Horses teach us forgiveness.

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The fly mask sat on the table next

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to the door in my office, ready to

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go out for one of the older mares

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who I noticed was having a lot of

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trouble with flies around her eyes.

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It's been a crazy week with a cat

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emergency, which luckily turned out to be not

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that bad, a few appointments, and trying to

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juggle various things.

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This afternoon I took the lead rope, just

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in case I needed to keep her close.

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Some treats and the fly mask out, and

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within five minutes she had it on.

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Though I'm sure she wondered just what the

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heck I was doing to her, though she

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is one of the few horses that can

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keep on a fly mask, she got plenty

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of treats and now had her fly mask

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and all was well.

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Senior heart mare who was eating her lunch

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looked for treats, found none, and went back

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to eating.

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Likewise, her daughter, who was always available for

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treats, stuck out her nose, then went back

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to waiting for her mom.

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No one seemed upset that I hadn't brought

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treats for them.

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I'll bring some when I open the gates

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here in about half an hour.

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And no one held a grudge.

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Treats today?

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Nope, not today.

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Okay, maybe tomorrow.

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If only we could forgive so easily.

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For many of the neurodivergent community, we also

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live with rejection-sensitive dysphoria, RSD, where not

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only do we feel the sting of rejection

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of being left out of the treat dispensing,

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as it were, more accurately than others, but

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also we see personal rejection where there was

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one and are quick to take steps to

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avoid rejection, even if the possibility is remote.

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Now let me be clear.

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As with so many things, I'm not saying

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we need to immediately change how we think

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about things and our RSD will go away,

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but as someone who deals with it on

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a regular basis, I have learned from the

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horses.

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Although horses live in the moment and we

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do not, I have found that mindfulness and

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being present can help.

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And most of all, I've learned from the

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horses to forgive myself when the RSD comes

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to the fore.

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I've stopped grousing about my stupid anxiety or

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talked about my crazy-ass mind.

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Instead, I acknowledge that this is how my

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mind is, just as a horse deals with

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a sunny day or a stormy day and

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I practice radical acceptance.

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Though we don't know the inner worlds of

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horses, I imagine that they practice radical acceptance

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too.

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If it's thunderstorming, they run into the shelter

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and wait it out.

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If it's hot, they stick close to the

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shade and water troughs.

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When the weather is nice, they take advantage

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of it and go out into the pasture

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to graze.

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The radical acceptance teaches us to forgive, not

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of everything, but of the little things and

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of ourselves.

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And that is the highest wisdom of all,

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learning to forgive ourselves.

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Thank you for listening to this episode of

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Feathermane Soul Wisdom Extra, an audio recording of

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a blog post hosted on Feathermane Soul.

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All blogs are copyright 2025, all rights reserved,

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by Kit Kaelstow and Feathermane Soul.

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Please like, subscribe, or follow wherever you get

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your podcasts in our social media.

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Text for each blog can be found at

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feathermanesoul.com slash blog.

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If you would like to learn about how

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spiritual storytelling can help you reclaim your relationship

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with spirituality and set your spirit free, please

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visit feathermanesoul.com and book a free call

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by using the button on our home page.

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You're also welcome to pick up one of

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our free resources while you're there.

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Music is Call of the Mountains by Purple

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Planet Music and available at purple-planet.com.