Hi Angie –

If your daughter takes after her mom, I have little doubt that she is a straight-A student! I think you did a great job of interpreting your own dream!

When we awaken from an emotionally puzzling dream whose meaning is not immediately visible to us – we need to know some simple dream skills to help us unravel the dream’s message. In your case, you took all the right steps. You reviewed the dream several times in your mind, allowing yourself to feel your feelings and noting any associations and memories (no matter how bizarre) that “popped” into your mind. Soon you began to get the feeling that the pony was female, and eventually you decided that it was a dream symbol representing your daughter, whose educational needs currently are not being met. Surprise!

I agree with you that the pony symbolizes your daughter’s educational plight. I also think the sudden appearance of your “best friend from primary school” confirms this hunch. Who else do we know, currently, who is in primary school?

Many readers no doubt are wondering why the dream – if it really was about your daughter – would go to all the trouble to represent her as a pony searching for food. It sounds complicated. For example, why not a simple dream where your daughter appeared to you complaining about school? Or perhaps a simple image of your daughter’s school in a dilapidated and worn-down condition?

The answer to this excellent question is found in your very own comments upon uncovering the symbolic meaning of the “hungry pony.” You wrote, “This horrified me as naturally I would not like to think I am neglecting my child in any way!!!” It is apparent that, coupled with your awareness that your daughter needs a more challenging school environment, a sense of personal responsibility lingers. Specifically, you worry that you are not doing enough for your child.

Accordingly, your dream is a fine illustration of the psychological phenomenon of resistance: we all tend to avoid recognizing feelings and awarenesses that we find uncomfortable or disturbing. It is your desire to avoid this awareness – that you are “neglecting your daughter” (be it valid or not) – that causes the dream to speak in camouflaged and symbolic language. And indeed, your dream the following night, which you wrote was “simpler” and ”without symbols referring mainly to my daughter’s school and her work” confirms our theory. Once you recognized the disturbing feeling that lay behind the first dream – there was no more need for symbols or disguise.

Congratulations on being such a good student of your inner voice! I agree that your dream is a “call-to-action” in regard to your daughter’s education. With your mind now fully attuned to the problem, I am sure you will be much more effective in your efforts to move her into a “new paddock” – one that does have a complete fence around it.

What is the message of this dream? To grow into healthy, happy adults, all our ponies need lush pastures, rolling green hills, and sparkling streams… And it is our responsibility to provide it for them.

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