Listening With My Eyes: An Abused Horse. A Mother With Alzheimer’s. The Journey To Help Them Both.

Understanding non-verbal communication taught by a horse. Patricia Conoway has created a breakthrough guide to help caregivers connect with their loved ones suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. She takes us on her journey with her mother Kay who’s in the late stages of Alzheimer’s, dependent on others for her most basic needs, and no longer able to communicate verbally, when her horse, Dream enters Patricia’s life. Dream had been severely abused by a previous owner, and where others would have given up, Patricia was determined to heal her. In this book, Patricia describes her dual struggles with her mother’s steady decline and persistent issues with care facilities while she’s going through the slow process of learning her horse’s body language. Eventually Dream teaches Patricia communication by watching and listening with her senses, which she translates to non-verbal conversations with her mother. Patricia’s straightforward account of her own frailties, doubts and eventual success should be recommended reading for anyone who struggles to relate to a person who has lost verbal communication.