Horses as Healers - Meet the 4-legged therapists

[Becky]

Posted by Bobd (here)
SpiritHorse, the spirit breaks, gets lost too with captive dolphin - I speak from experience there. Either the soul there becomes empty or they become aggressive. I have found the same with the horses that I have known. Thank you for pointing that out to the Forum.

That's really sad. I think any form of captivity is hard on the spirit - it's the same for other animals...and humans too.

[Carmen]

Horses treated with respect and sensitivity so not lose their spirit. The spirit is the animating force, as it is in us humans. We ride the spirit, we are in sinc with it. When horse and rider are bonded and in sinc, the rider just has to think of direction and horse will follow. A good rider is a good leader and cues become very subtle. The communication is back and forward between horse and rider. It is a partnership of equals, but the rider leads. Also a good rider or leader is totally in control of their emotions. An emotional mess of a rider confuses the hell out of a horse and causes lack of confidence in the horse!

[Spirithorse]

Posted by Carmen (here)
Horses treated with respect and sensitivity so not lose their spirit. The spirit is the animating force, as it is in us humans. We ride the spirit, we are in sinc with it. When horse and rider are bonded and in sinc, the rider just has to think of direction and horse will follow. A good rider is a good leader and cues become very subtle. The communication is back and forward between horse and rider. It is a partnership of equals, but the rider leads. Also a good rider or leader is totally in control of their emotions. An emotional mess of a rider confuses the hell out of a horse and causes lack of confidence in the horse!

Hi Carmen,

Again, you're so right with all what you said in your post. I didn't intend this thread to be focused on Klaus Hempfling to that extent, but he gives such good examples in his videos.

He uses body language, decisiveness, mental clarity and telepathic communication to achieve the results he achieves. All deeply routed in spiritual awareness and self mastery.

Here another short clip from his early years.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=GNXddsvAjOc

[Spirithorse]

The following is a video suggestion from Carmen, who didn't know how to upload the video.


The guy is an Australian horseman with the name of Carlos Cabernaberri. I hadn't heard of him, but hey, I live on the other side of the world.
The message is pretty much the same, decisiveness, gentleness and respect... and you can regain a horse's trust.
Carmen is doing a clinic with Carlos early next month. I hope she will share her experiences.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cCYGyFUwi4I

[Spirithorse]

This is an older interview with Liz, whose horses you can see at work in the opening post. Here she speaks about how she came to write books channeling horse wisdom.

It clearly shows - there is only one consciousness and it connects all living beings.

The wisdom shared in her books is so profound that she won several book awards. Except from her website:

>In three years Liz and her horses, cats and dogs co-authored four books and won nine Independent Publishing awards. One With the Herd won five IP awards and The Truth According to Horses won a coveted Silver Nautilus Award , in company with Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle and the Dalai Llama, making Prima the first horse in history to win a literary award. Life Unbridled, co-authored by the horses, cats and dogs, won a gold Ippy and a gold Indie award.<

The way the horses in this video take part in the interview is quite amusing. (These were not her horses though)


Source: Watch on Vimeo

[Spirithorse]

This is just a quick notice to you guys that I will be away for a week, not sure if I have internet access where I stay.

So, if there are no new posts from me it's because of that. I will be posting more when I'm back. And if any of you feel they want to post related videos or pics, or share stories, please do so. x

[Becky]

Have a fab time away Spirithorse - sorry I didn't get in touch before you went xxx

[spiritwind]

I do believe that horses in general can be very healing to be around. I happen to live where there are 4 horses and I feed them every morning as part of my chores. Very interesting to watch the pecking order. There is one that is lame and used to be the head honcho and she is now in last place. I have to get kind of tricky to make sure she gets enough to eat. I have miniature goats and it was sooo funny when we moved here to watch these 15-16 hand horses acting like they were afraid of them! When I took my goats for a walk the horses would run, buck, snort and carry on. Hilarious. I’ve started bringing them carrots and apples slices (w/out the seeds!) and they think I’m pretty cool now. They are very attentive and have even alerted us to someone on the property not too long ago when the property owner’s dogs had totally fell down on the job. I’ll try to get a good picture of them when they come up and check out the goats.

I am going to watch these videos that have been posted here as soon as I can because…I am going to go look at a 2 year old section A Welsh filly hopefully this weekend. She is only 10 hands, so pretty small, but just right for my 6 year old grandson. I need a horse like I need a hole in my head, especially since I have 4 pregnant goats due to kid in about 6 weeks, but I can’t seem to get it out of my head. I did a bit of trail- riding about 10 years ago on a POA mare named Foxy and I can’t hardly think of anything more enjoyable in every way. One thing that really saddens me is the number of unwanted horses now, especially since the economy has been so challenged and hay prices have gotten so high. And so many want to get rid of their older horses after being in the family for years. I have personally seen how depressed a working horse can become when his lifelong owner suddenly doesn’t need him anymore and sells him to someone who just lets him sit out to pasture. But, things happen and sometimes you do have to make tough choices.

Love this idea for a thread Spirithorse and hope you are having a good time wherever you are!

[Spirithorse]

Hi Spiritwind,

Nice to see you here, I hope you will enjoy the videos.
Yes, I understand what you're saying about so many horses having a hard time... those just 'parked' on a field are probably still the luckier ones. So many are being neglected as people don't have the money to look after them/ feed them properly.

It's so sad to see so many beings suffer these times, people as well as animals of all kinds.

Please keep me updated on your filly, will you?. I'm not really familiar with 'hands and feet' I'm metric, you know. Unless you can give me her height in cm, I can't really picture her size. Will she only be for your grandson or will you also be able to ride her later on? It seems that you might have a story with this little Welsh girl - Horses often choose their owners for a particular reason. That you can't get her out of your head is a good indicator for that.

[spiritwind]

Hi Spirithorse
Well, you asked me to let you know how the horse thingy was going. I know the last time I communicated with you I told you that I wasn’t going to look anymore when I couldn’t connect with the last one I was going to look at. Yeah, I said it would be wise to wait until after my goaties all gave birth etc. (3 weeks to go!).

I don’t know if I told you that I don’t always do what seems logical by most standards. I brought home 2 goats in my car in Oct. of 2012 when I still lived in the city to the surprise of everyone who knew me. I couldn’t fit the horse in the car though. Anyway, to make a long story short, I went and looked at Skittles yesterday, a 9 year old POA that belonged to the guy’s daughter who was now in college. My niece went with me as she has been around horses all her life. It was a long drive in snowy weather but we made it. And, I fell in love. My niece even loaned me the money (yeah, I know, crazy huh!) and we bought her for $500, which was one heck of a deal. She went and borrowed a horse trailer and is going to keep her for the next week and ride her and get her tuned up for me since she hasn’t been ridden much the last 2 years. But my niece was able to just tie her lead rope around on her halter, jumped on her bareback and rode her around the yard. What a dream girl. Very bright look in this horse’s eyes and now I have to get some tack. All that we used to have got burned up in a friend’s house fire a few years ago. My husband wants to get me an Australian saddle because I guess it’s good if you do a lot a trail riding (which is just what I am going to be doing). It has the flaps on either side to keep you from falling forward when you’re going down a steep hill.

This is the only picture I have right now (from the Craig’s List ad). I’ll take some better ones when I get the chance. Anyway, an exciting new adventure begins. Woo-Hoo.

Oh yeah, and she's about 14 hands high. I didn't know either but I looked it up and a hand is about 4 inches. So, a 14 hand horse should be about 56 inches tall. I think Skittles isn't quite that, but close.

[Carmen]

Carlos Tabernaberri is a fabulous teacher. I really enjoyed his clinic. I would describe it as the icing on the cake of all I have learned previously. He is extremely gentle with all horses and he interacts with all the participants in a friendly encouraging manner. I feel as though I have have a far better bond with my little horse since I attended his clinic.

[Spirithorse]

Hi Spiritwind,

That's fantastic news! She has a very bright and inquisitive look in her eyes. It's funny how it works sometimes, isn't it? She was obviously meant to be with you and that's why it didn't work out with the other horse.
Falling in love with her is such a beautiful part of the story.

Yes, and please keep us updated how you get on with Skittles (funny name :-)

Posted by spiritwind (here)


Hi Spirithorse
Well, you asked me to let you know how the horse thingy was going. I know the last time I communicated with you I told you that I wasn’t going to look anymore when I couldn’t connect with the last one I was going to look at. Yeah, I said it would be wise to wait until after my goaties all gave birth etc. (3 weeks to go!).

I don’t know if I told you that I don’t always do what seems logical by most standards. I brought home 2 goats in my car in Oct. of 2012 when I still lived in the city to the surprise of everyone who knew me. I couldn’t fit the horse in the car though. Anyway, to make a long story short, I went and looked at Skittles yesterday, a 9 year old POA that belonged to the guy’s daughter who was now in college. My niece went with me as she has been around horses all her life. It was a long drive in snowy weather but we made it. And, I fell in love. My niece even loaned me the money (yeah, I know, crazy huh!) and we bought her for $500, which was one heck of a deal. She went and borrowed a horse trailer and is going to keep her for the next week and ride her and get her tuned up for me since she hasn’t been ridden much the last 2 years. But my niece was able to just tie her lead rope around on her halter, jumped on her bareback and rode her around the yard. What a dream girl. Very bright look in this horse’s eyes and now I have to get some tack. All that we used to have got burned up in a friend’s house fire a few years ago. My husband wants to get me an Australian saddle because I guess it’s good if you do a lot a trail riding (which is just what I am going to be doing). It has the flaps on either side to keep you from falling forward when you’re going down a steep hill.

This is the only picture I have right now (from the Craig’s List ad). I’ll take some better ones when I get the chance. Anyway, an exciting new adventure begins. Woo-Hoo.

Oh yeah, and she's about 14 hands high. I didn't know either but I looked it up and a hand is about 4 inches. So, a 14 hand horse should be about 56 inches tall. I think Skittles isn't quite that, but close.

[Spirithorse]

Hi Carmen,

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences. It's so good to see that more and more people want to learn different ways of being and interacting with horses and that people like Carlos can help many horses with their people problems :-)

Posted by Carmen (here)
Carlos Tabernaberri is a fabulous teacher. I really enjoyed his clinic. I would describe it as the icing on the cake of all I have learned previously. He is extremely gentle with all horses and he interacts with all the participants in a friendly encouraging manner. I feel as though I have have a far better bond with my little horse since I attended his clinic.

[Spirithorse]

In addition to Carmen's post I wanted to introduce you to a 'community' called HorseConscious.
www.horseconscious.com

The site focuses to some extent on the USA, but basically it's a global community of people who are practicing horsemanship in a different, more holistic way.

Founded by Mark Mottershead, a Brit, who now lives in Germany, the website gives horse people from all over the world a way to connect with each other and with the best teachers/ facilitators in the alternative horseworld. There are videos, blogs, therapies, tele-classes and a whole bunch more.

Most of the people featured in 'The Path of the Horse',
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...l=1#post783044
- besides many more others, are on their teachers list.

Carmen, maybe you want to suggest Carlos Cabernaberri to them?

You can subscribe to a free monthly newsletter, where you get the latest info and the opportunity to take part in 'HorseConscious calls' with their teachers (including replay links, in case you missed it).
They also have a full membership for a reasonable yearly rate, which offers you a whole lot more, exclusive trainings and webinars. I only have the free membership as I currently don't have any horses in my life - at least not physically.

[Spirithorse]

'An incredible Journey'

Found on the Horseconscious site here:
http://www.horseconscious.com/inspir...rney-continued


A family from Sussex in England embark on a pilgrimage to Spain with 15 year old daughter and their horse Maggie. 1000 miles on foot, with horse and wagon, they share their incredible journey, their transition from their old lives as organic farmers in Britain to a something more worthwhile in the Spanish Pyrenees.

All the way guided by the horses.

[Spirithorse]

Interesting Info for all horse lovers and equine facilitators.
Starting Monday 3.3.14
For 30 days (1hr session/talk per (week)day available for free for 48 hrs)

HEALING WITH HORSE TELE-SUMMIT 2014.
http://healingwithhorse.com/TeleSummit.html
You have to sign up for it but it's free.
For a preview of the guest facilitators, scroll to the bottom of the page.

I attended last year's Tele-Summit and it had lots of amazing horse people on board. Dr Jennifer Oikle and her horses are the initiators of it and it sure will be an inspiring experience again.

Personally, I find her a bit difficult to listen to, but she is sincere and the information and the facilitators she invites are well worth your time.

[spiritwind]

Hi Spirithorse, I just had to pop in here and share a word about horses as healers. As you know, we did bring Freckles home in February this year. So it has been 6 months or so. I don’t claim to have much experience even having a horse, let alone much experience in riding/training etc. For me it really is about healing on many levels. You see, when I was about 9 years old my adoptive parents made some deal with a neighbor and brought home a pony. It was supposed to be for me, but I was told I could not do anything with her unless someone else (parental figure) was there with me. My parents were not into spending time with me so basically I never even got to interact with her. I had good reason to fear breaking rules. My much older sister, who had experience, could not even ride this pony. So, this didn’t exactly instill much confidence in me either.

I knew there were subconscious reasons for wanting a horse so bad, but it wasn’t until she was in our life that I have begun to understand on a deeper level. I had to go through somewhat of a major controversy where we were living at the time just to keep her, and I realized that this incident from my childhood was actually one of the reasons I still have trouble sticking up for myself today. By standing my ground in regards to her I took a big step in my recovery. We have now moved again and I once again have had to pull up from the depths of myself to keep her in our life. Since the woman we were caretaking passed suddenly we were faced with having to move with 9 goats, 2 cats, and a horse. A big chunk of income suddenly disappeared too. To most, the logical move would have been to lighten the load of responsibility so to speak.

Instead, we decided to move back to a very good friend’s rural property that is quite wild and not at all conducive to this type of adventure. A lot of back breaking work has already gone into making a place for them all. As I went out there this morning I fully realized that it has been the right choice for us. She is now a part of our family and just her presence is so wonderful and healing to be around. We have slowly been getting to know and trust one another. And I do believe that once you gain a horse’s trust, there is just nothing quite like it. Strangely, just her smell makes me happy.

I have been taking the 7 female goats we have on walks every day. I wasn’t sure how that would go, not having done it before. It’s amazing. They already respond to our whistle and absolutely love getting out and getting to eat whatever appeals to them. They don’t wander off when we are with them as I feared. And now, I want to eventually get the horse so that she can go with us on these walks. I have always done things kind of my own way. I may read and get ideas from what has worked for others, but tend to come up with my own way of doing things that works for me. I flat don’t listen to people who try and tell me I can’t do whatever, or that what I am doing won’t work. I have proved others wrong so many times I’ve lost count, which has actually really helped my ability to trust in myself. That is a very good thing, I believe.

Thought you might enjoy getting an update and this seems right in line with your original post. She looks quite funny right now as we had to get a fly mask for her when we moved her here. They immediately set upon tormenting her (the flies) and now she looks kind of like the bat horse because it’s a little big on her and the tip of the ears flop over on the mask. I’ll have to get a picture. She’s quite the talker too. And she knocks her water bucket over (until we put a weight in it and tied it to the fence) when she wants attention. A 1200 pound brat!

[spiritwind]

Outstanding little video on the trust technique that was used with these rescue horses.

http://www.facebook.com/TrustTechnique

[Strider]

Hey spiritwind it's funny you found that about the trust technique as I actually went on the workshop earlier this year. I wrote about my experiences of it here http://www.talkingtoanimals.co.uk/th...ust-technique/ if anyone is interested. It is a wonderful way to help the horses, and any animal.