I came under the ownership of Katie’s Cradle 1 year ago under the external rehoming program.  I am a little bit of a worry wort and I stress quite easily and because of this I scare some people.  I have been lucky, I didn’t know what it meant being under the ‘protection’ of the charity but recently I found out what that meant.  When my adopter could no longer keep me, (I got too stressed and in my panic kicked someone) I went directly under the care of Katie’s Cradle, this means I had been tried in a new home and when it didn’t work out, I go to Katie’s Cradle forever.  This means that I won’t get passed from pillar to post, that would only make my stresses worse.

I was brought down to Katie’s Cradle being lead inbetween two horses for safety and little Twiggy was with us too, I didn’t know that Twiggy and I would stay together; but we did.  I didn’t really know what was happening, it was different.

I went into a big barn with Twiggy, there was a lovely big fluffy bed but we were not in a stable, I was confused.  We could walk out the gate into a paddock with nice grass, I was confused, “what is this?” I asked.  “I can go inside when I like and I can go out when I like?”  I tested this a lot, just to make sure that I was allowed.  I like this idea.

The people were quite nice too, they seemed to listen to me, if I got stressed they understood.  I got a feeling from them, I feel when they look at me, or interact with me, that I am important, they see all my positives, they are there for me if I stress, they take notice if I am communicating something that is worrying me.  I have the strangest feeling now, I feel safe in their company, I feel i can have a snooze while they are there and not have to be on full alert constantly, I like this feeling.

I have met and get on well with the main herd members but I feel I should protect Twiggy and I don’t know yet if Twiggy will be safe with the main herd, the people understand my worries so I talk to my friends in the main herd but I stay in a different section with Twiggy.

This is me with one of my friends (Amigo) from the main herd.

The people are nice too, I am making lots of friends.  It feels safe for me because I’m not enforced and I can freely walk away if I feel too pressured or overwhelmed.

The lady that makes the decisions about how we are cared for has been helping me to learn what choice is and helping me to understand and cope better with my stresses.  I like the headcollar game, this is where the lady holds the headcollar and I choose whether to go over to get it on or not.  I always choose to get it on, it feels good to get the choice.

I am making lots of new friends, these friends seem to understand me, that makes me feel quite secure, I don’t feel I have to put an act on that I can’t cope with.  Seemingly, that is what we do at Katie’s Cradle, I will be helping people that have the same kind of feeling that I have, I like that idea.

My original mum can come and see me whenever she wants and she actually came in my first couple of days at Katie’s Cradle, she cried, I wondered why but she said she cried because she seen I was so happy and settled.

I think I might just have found my special place now, the place where I can be me, where i won’t be given up on, I am home.