How Are You Affecting Your Horse?
by Catherine Madera
As I’ve embraced naturpathic remedies for myself, relying less and less on drugs and anything that compartmentalizes health, I’ve become more interested in holistic health for my horse. Mind, body, and spirit cannot be separated. They constantly affect one another and either aid in wellness or take away from it. Horses are very sensitive creatures and I often ponder how their mind influences their body, and visa versa.
Once, I had a gifted equine chiropractor work on a horse that we used temporarily. Unbeknownst to the practitioner, this particular animal had suffered an injury early in life to the left side of its face. The chiropractor simply spoke of feeling a negative “energy” on that side, so much so that it made his own arm weak. I was told to regularly put one hand on this horse’s wither and one just under its left ear, a human electrical current of sorts, and “think only happy thoughts” as a healing exercise. “Wow,” I thought later, time to start singing Kum Ba Yah and hug some trees. No way was anybody going to catch me doing that! Later, after reading about acupuncture points on the horse, I got curious and gave it a try (making sure nobody was around). This exercise proved relaxing to the horse and it is something I now do with my very sensitive stallion, Eli. He always lowers his head, yawns, and will sometimes just hang his head by my side in total relaxation. What do I think about? Paddling a long board along the coast of Maui, a favorite happy memory.
What’s my point in sharing this (admittedly weird) story? Your state of mind—your fears, anger, unresolved conflict AND happy thoughts—profoundly affect your horse. Make a commitment to not only physical wellness, but mental and spiritual health, too.
Enjoy the magazine this month. On page 6 learn how SciencePure can improve your horse’s physical wellness and as for equine mental/emotional health? Try visualizing Hawaii…Eli likes it. Email me at [email protected].
Ride Well!
Published October 2013 Issue
Catherine Madera served as editor of the Northwest Horse Source for five years. She has written for numerous regional and national publications and is a contributing writer for Guideposts Magazine and the author of four equine-related books. She has two grown children and lives with her husband and three horses in Northwest Washington.
