Horses as therapy

I adopted Sunni, my first horse, in April of 2005. I had visited United Pegasus' Hemet ranch on several occasions and I had actually fed carrots to the horses in the corral with Sunni. I just didn't pick him out of the crowd, at that time. But, even then, I noticed that while I was around horses, my tension, stress, and anxiety would disappear. I could "suspend" my worries when I was with them. So, after I brought Sunni to the desert, if I was tense when I stopped by to visit him, he would pick up on that and run to the far side of the corral! (How perceptive of him!) I kept telling Hubby that he really needed to spend time with the horses, shed HIS emotions and stress, and just relax with them. It took him a while, but now he realizes that, yes, he does need to check his emotions "at the door" and be calm around them. And, believe me, sometimes that isn't easy. He always takes his cell phone with him in order for the office to get hold of him and sometimes he rushes me (GRRrrrrr!) when we are up on the mountain with them! So, on this visit, last December, I was glad to see him so relaxed with Scout and Cali, the mustangs! He was the one who found both Cali and Scout on the BLM's Internet adoption and he outbid many other bidders to win Scout! Although he loves these two, I notice now that he gravitates over to Quad every visit! But, I'm glad he can visit all the horses, relax, and at least temporarily leave the stress of his job behind. Now, if I could just bottle that serenity and bring it home with me!