Welcome to Holistic Horse

I started life as a curious child, in more ways than one! My early life was filled with animals, both domestic and farm and I regarded them all as my friends. My natural curiosity was allowed to flourish and even after I commenced school, I was able to see the wonder in what I was taught. I loved all the natural sciences and mathematics allowed me to see beyond the physical world we inhabit. My working life as a medical scientist allowed me to further appreciate both the complexity and utter simplicity of life. Armed with my microscope I explored the worlds of microbiology, mycology and parasitology. As the world changed, proteins became my focus as I worked in immunoserology and Hepatitis and AIDS serology. When autoimmune diseases started to emerge as one of the greatest markers of our impact on the planet, I was there as the testing became more sophisticated and accurate. I loved it! Then BJ arrived. Much as I had always loved animals, I was not prepared for the first steps of the journey our daughter’s first pony set out for me. Because of my innate love of animals, I was not comfortable with the way horses were treated, but being ‘the new kid on the block’, my opinion did not have much sway. I realised I knew nothing about horses and the only way to be taken seriously was to learn about horses, not from the casual acquaintances at pony club, but from people with whom I felt comfortable in their approach to horses. Having made the decision to learn, teachers came into my life, just as I was ready for them. So, another journey began. It was like I was on a roller coaster, and I could not get off! TTEAM was the first awakening, followed by myofunctional therapy, natural horsemanship, reiki, homeopathy, craniosacral therapy..I pretty much explored everything on offer, retaining what felt ‘right’, happily rejecting some established horse handling dogmas along the way. For many years I taught anatomy and physiology in both equine and canine courses at the National College of Traditional Medicine, contributing to the curriculum development and accreditation. I developed the intensive short courses to accommodate overseas students studying canine myofunctional therapy and helped to develop equine modules for interstate teaching. I taught introductory homeopathy for animals and have run short courses for owners. Working with horses whose main problem was unbalanced riders, prompted me to develop courses for riders in order to develop awareness of body posture and proprioception. These courses are short, fun and very effective. Currently I am exploring saddle options for horses who do not fit the ‘normal ’equine shape. Gradually my focus has moved from the purely scientific to the purely equine. I am fortunate to have the grounding in both the scientific and the amazing world that horses inhabit. I now work with horses as my career path has totally shifted. I am still a scientist at heart, but horses have enriched my life in a way I did not have even in my wonderful world of microscopes. Horses have taught me stillness and humility and given me cause for gratitude every time I am accepted into their space. Holistic Horse is a natural result of my need to work with horses (and other animals), and now my life is dedicated to learning and passing on the valuable lessons horses have taught me. Fortunately I am still a curious child. In the twenty odd years I have been working with horses (and other animals), occasionally I receive extra information from them. It’s these experiences I wish to share in my blog. Cheers, Dani

Bazza

Way back in 2004, a couple of my interstate clients let me know they were coming to my home state to race in a series finals. They asked that I make some time to work with their horses while they were here. These race trainers were not like any other. They used only natural methods, no drugs. They had special, energised water pumped to the water troughs for the horses. They embraced the idea that each horse was an individual, and they were very successful So, just over ten years ago, they introduced me to Bazza. Bazza was born and bred in New Zealand, a country renowned for producing some pretty impressive racehorses. The problem with Bazza was that he only had two settings,”on” and “off”. There were days he would blitz the field and win effortlessly and other days one was left wondering if he’d turned up at all. He ate huge amounts of feed, but lacked weight gain, especially around the hindquarter. His owners bought him every conceivable health aid. He had magnetic boots, space age blankets and consultations with alternative therapists of every modality. They said...”it’s like he likes the gadgets, but they are not doing him any good “. So, I met Bazza. I checked him over, found very little amiss. I asked the owners what they had in mind when they asked me to work with him. They told me they had animal communicators talk to him. I was quite excited! “What did he say?” I asked. “Nothing.....he avoided them”. I didn’t understand what “avoiding” entailed. I was told that there was no clear message or communication from him. So my job was to try to somehow find out what was going on in his head. Did I mention that I am not an animal communicator, but that sometimes, unpredictably, there are very clear messages that seem to come from somewhere, who knows where? I gently placed my hands on Bazza’s masseter muscles and we stood still for a bit. Nothing happened. Suddenly Bazza started to mumble, his lips working furiously and he started striding out. Everyone became excited and they were calling out “What’s he saying?” “Nothing” I said. “He’s avoiding me....it’s like he’s distracting himself..a bit like people under interrogation will sing nursery rhymes or recite the alphabet.” So we strode around the holding yard at a cracking pace, me trotting along, holding his face, Bazza mumbling away. We circled the yard a couple of times when Bazza stopped at the gate way to the yard. He stood silently for a moment, then turned his head slightly to fix his gaze directly at me. There had been quite a bit of rain over the past few weeks and the gateway had a load of smallish stones placed in the entrance to the yard to help deal with the mud. Bazza bent down and took a stone in his mouth, then turned to look at me again, so directly, so forcefully that it felt like a physical touch. Then I heard, so loudly in my head, the saddest thing I have ever heard. “I only deserve to eat stones”. I could only stand there, crying, my arms around his neck, saying “It’s not true, it’s not true”. “You are magnificent..you should stand proud.” It took a while for Bazza and me to collect ourselves and return to his owners. Five months later I met up with Bazza again when I was interstate to work with him and the rest of the racing string. His owners had contacted the New Zealand stud and enquired about Bazza’s early life. The stud confirmed that he was smallish for age, so they decided to “chuck him down the back paddock” to let him grow a bit. In his young mind, it meant he was not good enough. The crazy thing was that Bazza could still pull the invisibility cloak around him. I remember standing in the large day paddock asking “Where’s Bazz?” only to be told “He’s standing beside you”. Okay. I think he enjoyed playing the game after a while. I overheard his trainer saying to him one day..”It’s no good, Bazza, we know your secret now....you’ll have to find another game to play.”

Elle and Jewel

Way back in 2005, I was called to see a mare that had suffered an accident as she was cross tied in the stable complex. She had kicked out, reared, then caught her leg in the ties, flipped over and hit her head. She had been attended by the vet and had stitches in her head. I had seen this little mare a couple of times in the past three months and had been touched by her acceptance of me. Reading her notes from a visit only a month before, I had written “because Jewel accepted the Craniosacral session so trustingly, decided to delay proprioceptive work on legs and hindquarter until next visit.” On this visit, the owner wanted me to do masseter work as she felt that the reason the mare had reacted badly to cross tying had something to do with past experience. Masseter work is amazing in that we can access what past events have impacted on the horse’s current life. It is a great help in helping horses release the trauma of injury/accident so that they can heal without the inhibition that injury can inflict on them. As prey animals, they rely on their ability to move fast and freely when required. Even domesticated horses feel the fear of anything that impedes their ability to move quickly away from danger. One thing I was not aware of was that Jewel’s foal was on the property, hand reared because Jewel had not only rejected the foal, but had tried to kill it at birth. She even attacked Elle across the fence when they were put into separate paddocks. By now, Elle, the foal, was eleven months old. We started the masseter work on Jewel. There was an immediate release, corresponding to very recent events. It was probably to do with her recent injury. A second release came with a time frame of around eight to twelve months previous. It was very confusing, showing a lot of pain and fear. It was possibly around the birth of Elle. Very quickly there came yet another release that preceded the birth of the foal. During the masseter work at this stage, Jewel needed to leave me between the expressed emotions..she always came back, but needed time alone to process in between revealing yet another past trauma. The picture became clearer when I heard more of the history of Jewel and Elle. Jewel came from a very impressive breeding line and she had been artificially inseminated with the last straw of semen from a deceased stallion also from an impressive breeding line. Jewel was a maiden mare when she was impregnated, so she did not get to meet and greet with a stallion. The end product of this ‘mating’ was very special in terms of breeding. It meant a lot to the owners. During her pregnancy, Jewel knew something had changed in her. Her owners were really focussed on what was growing inside her, and it frightened her. When she gave birth, her first instinct was to destroy what had made her fearful for almost a year. So, Elle had to become a bottle baby. Well, all that made sense and I was relieved that we had an understanding of what had precipitated Jewel’s behaviour. Even the reaction to being in cross ties made sense. I was then asked to do some work with little Elle. I must admit to wondering what a little eleven month old filly could reveal. Elle had been hand reared by her mother’s owners. She had a poor suckling reflex. The masseter work was surprising. She stood very proudly and occasionally left to prance beautifully around us. Then she settled again. This was repeated several times. I am not a “communicator”, but occasionally undeniable messages come unbidden to me. As Elle stood straight and tall, I heard in my head. “I demand my birthright”. She expressed anger at being denied suckling because she was born knowing she was fast, free and meant to be. She demonstrated this by doing powerful laps around us. She was aware of her early rejection at birth. She showed how there was only a slight faltering as she tried to stand for the first time. There was such a strong impression that she knew how important she was, and here I heard in my head “Why is this not acknowledged?” My notes show that a month later when I visited to check on Jewel, I popped in to see Elle. She was “curious and soft”...”no arrogance or anger”. As a note, Jewel has had another two foals, one AI, one natural mating. Both have been uneventful and Jewel has been a wonderful mother to them.

Jessie

Occasionally I teach owners’ level courses in homeopathy. It’s very basic, eight hours, spread over four evenings..after all we are all busy during the day. I try to keep classes small and most of all, I like to be interactive and have fun. With small groups, we get to know each other pretty well. It was the last evening of a course and I noticed that one of the students was unusually quiet. When class was over, I asked what was going on, that I had noticed she seemed sad and a bit depressed. She told me she was having her Clydesdale mare, Jessie, put down the next day. In the country, generally the horses are shot and the meat used for dog food. It would be seen as a waste to have a vet use drugs which would render the meat useless except for fertiliser. I never criticise people, nor do I try to change their mind when it comes to an animal’s last days. In fact I often find people try to hold on to their animals for just a little too long. I assumed the mare was ill or in pain so I said that was sad, that I could see it wasn’t an easy decision, and asked what was wrong with the mare. She told me that the mare was only four years old and had been a joy to handle but recently had started to attack the weanling foals. She said she was not prepared to try to rehome her if she was so unstable and there was a possibility she could do harm to other youngsters. It was one of those days when the mouth spoke before the brain engaged. I’m sure it’s happened to everyone. I heard myself offering to do some work with her so that whatever was mentally torturing her could be eased and perhaps she could have an easier death that way. I could not see her for two days, so the butcher was cancelled for the moment. When I arrived at the property it was very unsettled weather, amazing wind howling through the gullies. Jessie was in a small holding yard, waiting for me. The problem was that the yard was not only small, but had a tree growing in the middle of it. There certainly was not going to be enough room for the three of us! I asked if there was any open place I could work. They pointed to the paddock behind the yard. It was huge, around forty acres and was basically a hill surrounded by fence. Jessie and I walked to a spot about half way up the hill. She stood very still. For some reason I removed her halter before I placed my hands on her face. The owner and two of her friends came and stood quietly. Jessie did not move. We stood so still, the wind whipping her amazing mane into my face and all of us felt her sadness. It was palpable. We were all crying, even Jessie. I did not have any clear idea of what had happened, but there was an impression of being out of control. As soon as there was a peaceful feeling we broke off and walked Jessie down the hill. A week later, I rang to see how everything was going, knowing that there needed to be a time of adjustment after the death of such a lovely animal that had touched us all with her sadness. When I heard her say “Jessie is still with us”, part of me was happy, but part of me realised we had just delayed the inevitable. Then the best news ever..they had checked with the locals and heard the story of Jessie’s education. The fellow who bred Jessie was fond of a drop of whiskey and was a bad tempered man at the best of times. When he was teaching Jessie to lead, he tugged at the lead rope and when she rocked back to get her balance, he lost his temper, tied her to the back of the car and dragged her through the paddock. It all made sense. Jessie had somehow seen the youngsters coming to a part of their education that caused her so much confusion and pain, and she tried to prevent it by attempting to kill the youngsters. Jessie is still alive today, twelve years on. She has never tried to harm a youngster and is trusted by the mares to play aunty.