“Today I was given a back massage by my horse. :-) .... She comes over to me as I sit on the tree trunk. I tell her about my conversation with Ben. Her muzzle touches my hair as she simply stands there. When she stands over me/in front of me like this, with her muzzle on my face or in my hair, I feel so protected, and simply so good just being with her. I scratch her chest, to her great enjoyment. She begins to nuzzle my neck and shoulders and for a change I do not stop to analyze whether that means that I should scratch her neck now, and I also do not worry that she might forget that she should not use her teeth to “groom” me the way she does other horses. I just sit and relax and begin to enjoy the experience. And so we go on -- I scratch her chest and she massages my neck and shoulders. It was quite the opposite of how it usually is: not me asking her “does that feel good? would you like me to scratch harder? more gently? more here? or here?” No, today she asked me, “Does that feel good?” More here? There? Oh, you are so tight.” She massaged all of my shoulders with exactly the right amount of pressure, so that for a long time afterward I was quite warm, just as after any really good massage. :-) So, today I experienced “togetherness” in my own body, and at yet a deeper level than usual. It is not only that “I “groom” you (the horse) where I would most like to be “groomed” by you. I also touch you where you want to be touched, or where I sense that it will feel good to you. Today we exchanged touch with one another -- sometimes I asked her, sometimes she asked me. :-)....”