The Gifts that Horses Bring

“In skillful helping action, when our awareness remains quiet and clear, there’s breadth to our perspective. It’s aerial, wide-screen, panoramic, and yet able to focus quickly.” Ram Dass could be speaking directly about the perspective of the horse in this quote. Horses, as prey animals, have a highly developed sense of their surroundings at all times. While grazing in a field, the horse maintains a broad perspective of the environment. This open, meditative view enables the horse to quickly detect anything that moves out of harmony with the surroundings.

Even more impressive to me, is the horses’ ability to sense intention. This is why a full-belied wolf can stroll undetected through the herd; but the moment a wolf crouches for the hunt, the herd with flee. This ability to sense energy in another body, or clairsentience, serves to inform the horse of intention. This gift is what gives a prey animal a fighting chance in the wild; and this gift holds the potential for us to receive this great teaching from the horse.

The ability to sense intention and congruency in the emotional body makes the horse a perfect mirror to reflect our hidden emotions back. In Equine Therapy, a person has the opportunity to confront their fears, anxieties, and uncertainties with a 1,000 pound reflection. If we offer the horse our truthful presence, it offers the same in return. If we pretend to be strong--when we are truly afraid--the horse inherently will not trust us.

As Linda Kohanov describes in The Tao of Equus, “(The horse) wants people to feel their problems, to listen to the messages behind their feelings, and to stop thinking their true feelings are the problem. (The horse) loves to be brushed and fussed over. Even so, she’ll dance sideways and begin to untie her own lead rope if the person holding the curry comb is pretending to be brave, happy, relaxed, or in control when he’s actually afraid, sad, angry, or unsure of the situation. The moment this person acknowledges the authentic feelings behind the façade, she’ll sigh, lick her lips, lower her head, and stop fidgeting—even if the client is still afraid.”

Since the horse has no agenda, s/he will demonstrate through behavior when a person is in a state that Kohanov describes as “emotional congruence,” meaning the person is expressing truthfully what they are feeling. But for example, someone who has survived a trauma is often disassociated with their body, and has lost the ability to be in alignment with how they feel. They may say they are happy, when internally they are in utter chaos.

A horse, like a good counselor, will pick up these cues, and help direct the person into their own truth. With the perspective of the horse, we walk gently together toward greater healing, and this is the inspiration of my work. Through yoga we tune back into the wisdom of the body and the breath, allowing the healing waters of truth to flow and flood us with our natural state of kindness, truth, generosity, bliss, and love. Gently, as we untie the concepts that bind us, we have an opportunity to awaken to the guidance within. And as Herman Hess describes, “I have been and still am a seeker; but I have ceased to question stars and books. I have begun to listen to the teachings my blood whispers to me.”