This beautiful lady (in the picture below) lost her mom when she was only 8 weeks old Since then, she's had to say goodbye to her horse friends, who either died, were sold or moved away.
All this time she was living with feelings of being unsafe, helplessness and unloved until she met her current owner, who asked me to come and help her release (some of) the negative emotions and trauma.
The owner of the horse told me that she'd never seen such a bad case of separation anxiety/barn sourness. In the horse's world there's really no such thing as barn sourness or buddy sourness. Either the horse is feeling anxious, or he is not. What we call it is up to us, but for the horse and my assessment it doesn't really matter. What does matter is the fact that even the simplest things can become a disaster when a horse is not feeling safe, about the environment or about the future. Horses that have endured trauma are more susceptible for changes in their lives and surroundings, they're always triple-checking everything before they can truly settle in or down.
But this horse had attached herself to her friends, looking for safety and stability after losing so many of her horse friends and family members. It was almost impossible to even make a connection with her when she wasn't near her equine friends, she always had to make sure she could hear, see and smell them. Even during our healing session, she occasionally walked over to (one of) her friends to ask for support while I helped her release some trauma.
It took me longer than usual to help this horse be brave enough to let go.
She walked away from me as soon as I started triggering, but when I gently invited her back, she eventually released and relaxed and let go.
I repeated these steps on every integration point, since she walked away as soon as the triggering at the next point started so I had to invite her back into my space. This seemed to work for her; to slowly but steadily let things go by snorting, sighing, pawing or licking/chewing.
Afterwards she seemed happy and very relaxed, and I felt relieved to leave her in such responsible and loving hands. That is what she deserves.
All this time she was living with feelings of being unsafe, helplessness and unloved until she met her current owner, who asked me to come and help her release (some of) the negative emotions and trauma.
The owner of the horse told me that she'd never seen such a bad case of separation anxiety/barn sourness. In the horse's world there's really no such thing as barn sourness or buddy sourness. Either the horse is feeling anxious, or he is not. What we call it is up to us, but for the horse and my assessment it doesn't really matter. What does matter is the fact that even the simplest things can become a disaster when a horse is not feeling safe, about the environment or about the future. Horses that have endured trauma are more susceptible for changes in their lives and surroundings, they're always triple-checking everything before they can truly settle in or down.
But this horse had attached herself to her friends, looking for safety and stability after losing so many of her horse friends and family members. It was almost impossible to even make a connection with her when she wasn't near her equine friends, she always had to make sure she could hear, see and smell them. Even during our healing session, she occasionally walked over to (one of) her friends to ask for support while I helped her release some trauma.
It took me longer than usual to help this horse be brave enough to let go.
She walked away from me as soon as I started triggering, but when I gently invited her back, she eventually released and relaxed and let go.
I repeated these steps on every integration point, since she walked away as soon as the triggering at the next point started so I had to invite her back into my space. This seemed to work for her; to slowly but steadily let things go by snorting, sighing, pawing or licking/chewing.
Afterwards she seemed happy and very relaxed, and I felt relieved to leave her in such responsible and loving hands. That is what she deserves.
Love, Zoë
