A Reflection On Horses, Healers and Therapy
After a very ineresting and exciting 1 week retreat with Life & Equine Coach Stacey Warner, it gave me much food for thought.
I have been honoured to witness the many gifts and talents of our herd, throughout the years. From riding along the beach and swimming in the waves, adventourous treks into the jungle,meditation and sharing sacred space together, Yoga & breathing exercizes, Dressage and jumping, I have seen them do it all with such ease. We keep them as happy as possible, that they live together in open spaces, barefoot, bitless, healing with medicinal plants, essential oils, herbs, clays....They give back to us a 1000 fold and more.
Now during this retreat, I saw as they tuned into our guests, connected with them, walked with them and helped them open their hearts and emotions, to be true to themselves and their dreams. It was beautiful and warmed my heart to watch these beautiful horses and beautiful women connect.
Why does this happen, why is this so natural for horses? How do we the 'caretakers' become the ones being taken care of and healed in return?
Horses are Prey animals, safety is in belonging to the herd. They have a high awareness of their surroundings and are present at all times. This awareness and living in the present, in the NOW, keeps them alive. Leadership is a quality needed and respected by all. Fair leadership, correct leadship, experienced leadership, they will look to the one that they feel safe with.
Horses live in the moment. There is no judgment, no ego, they do not hold grudges or regrets.
By being true to themselves and being totally present in the moment, the teach us and guide us to do the same. When we open our hearts to them, letting go of our egos, our judgments, our fears, our worries, we become present. It is in this moment, NOW that is important, in this moment you are alive, you breathe, you dream.
As Ruud Knaapen writes in his article "Moving into the Knowing Field with Horses"
{ Because horses have this capacity to experience existence as a 'we', they operate with both their individual conscience and a collective conscience. It is important for them to belong to a group, and to occupy the appropriate or 'right' place within that group, each one according to its true nature. Horses seem to recognise and respond to authenticity, i.e. when someone acts in alignment with their own unique sources and destiny. In other words, as a person, when your 'inner herd' is complete and has the capacity to move forward.}
Stacey Warner Equine Life Coach, created a space of trust, of laughter, joy & tears. All true emotions, and the horses responded to this with ease and curiousity, willing to participate and join in this new herd of humans.
Emotions that are locked and with-held, hidden deep in ourselves, horses pick this up immediately. They sense the unease, the dis-ease this creates, the negative energy that is generated by these blocked emotions. A horse never lies, they are true to their emotions and respond accordingly. When they feel this they do not know if it is meant toward them or not, they will disconnect, not wanting to participate. But when the person admits their feelings, becomes authentic to themselves and those around, the horse accepts this, the negative energy disipitates.
Truefulness, Authenticity, Being in the moment is the horse's gift to us. We have so much to learn, to live, to dream to BE!
