Self-help or Self-heal?

With the dawn of the New Age/Metaphysical movement I became obsessed with self-introspection and ‘fixing’ things ‘wrong within my very being. For years I obsessed over this, trying to find ways to fix the defects and damage in my thinking, my feeling and my physical body.

Decades later, after a cancer diagnosis, I had a conversation with a medical intuitive and she brought my attention to the difference between self-help and self-healing. These things I had obsessed over and tried to find the reason behind it all, really did not need explanation. No matter the cause or reason, they just needed to be healed.

I believe Horses are not so locked in their heads looking for the reason for their hurt like Humans are, but more likely they are looking for a way out of the hurt or confusion.

So, how do we help a Horse that needs healing? How do we recognize when a Horse needs healing? Perhaps waiting until they display loud symptoms is waiting too long. I am not advocating that we assume they are ‘damaged’, but I am advocating that we regularly take time to encourage self-healing for our Horses.

Especially Horses that are required to perform, compete, and show. Many Horses do not have a voice in what their Humans ask of them, and it takes a toll on their mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual body. If we ask our Horse to work for us, then we need to allow them to heal from the pressure of this.

This is not to insinuate that we are abusive, though many people are, sadly these people are not usually my audience and will not hear the message here. But just as we need our downtime, our Horses too benefit from this.

While a Horse needs its time with the herd, I am a strong believer in just spending time with my Horses. Hand-walking, soft and soothing grooming just for pleasure, and just sitting in their presence, feeling the Divine energy to flow through all of us.

I believe that this is healing. For them and for me. When I just spend time with them, no demands or agenda I invite the healing and connection needed to deepen our relationship and strengthen us as individuals living on planet earth. Just managing life and the changes it gives us can be stressful, our Horses are no exception. If we share a close relationship with them, then they experience and/or observe what we are traveling through, and this does carry its effect over to them.

But Horse or Human, what if the healing seems more painful than what has been hurt? When an individual has lived with damage for some time, making change to allow healing can feel threatening, it can require that you experience yourself differently. It can trigger deep sadness or anger over parts of life that were lost from this damage.

How can we help an emotionally/mentally damaged Horse heal? Changing disciplines is not the answer. Demanding different behavior is not the answer. Time spent is safety and peace is the doorway to healing.

By nature, Horses are curious, and if we give them space without demands or agenda with time, they will begin to let their guard down and open. Just as Humans, we need a safe space to process and grieve damage done, Horses need this too.

As Human its easy to have expectations about a Horses reaction to a space of healing that we provide for them, and sometimes we think their recovery should come with our offer of letting them heal. And most likely it will, in their own time, not as we think it should happen. And we need to accept and respect this for them.