This article on the connection between the Colombian "Guardians Del Mar" (Guardians of the Sea) and their community and environment is beautiful. We need more people who see those connections between what we do and how it impacts our environment, including other beings. In addition it touches on something important in my equine massage work, the potential for significant and meaningful communication between horses and their guardians.

 

One trained Guardian Del Mar, Luis Antonio “Toño” Lloreda, recounts his experience freeing a whale from an abandoned fishing net: “'To connect with the whale, I used what we call intuitive interspecies communication,' says Lloreda, explaining that this involves non-verbal, energetic communication. 'I asked the mother for permission – energetically.'”

 

A friend sent me the article, asking if this is what I do when I communicate with animals, and the answer was "Absolutely!"

 

I've just spent a weekend in Bend, Oregon, working with 11 very different horses and their wonderful guardians. Time after time, I stood with the owners while I waited for each horse to approach. The owners would tell me a little about their equine friends, and I would explain how I work with horses, and in that time, I would be sending energy to each horse, letting him or her know I'm there to help, that I will not push past boundaries, that I will ask before doing. And the horses would come up -- worried horses, anxious horses, horses coming back from injury and difficult rehabs -- and I would start my healing work.

Often the guardians wanted information on how to do what I was doing, and I would share what works for me, and I would watch in joy as owners slowed down and breathed and grounded themselves, and their horses dropped their heads and nuzzled them, or blew softly in their nostrils, or turned and requested touch in a certain area. I watched as owners held up hands to feel their horse's energy, then felt the energy soften and invite them in for touch. I watched the horses release, their eyes softening, their breath changing. "Visualize what you're planning to do," I told the owners. "Watch the horse's reaction. Is he positioning himself so you can do what you want to do? Is he blocking you? If he's blocking you, don't do it."

 

A block doesn't always mean "no." Sometimes it means "not yet." Learning the nuances of what the horse is communicating takes close observation, deep breathing, slowing waaaaaayyy down. But it's worth it. It changes the relationship profoundly.

 

In one case, I was slated to work with three horses in one larger herd. We went into the shared space. "Which horse do you want to start with?" my owner asked.

 

"Let's let the horses decide," I said. Her mare came up first, a horse I had not personally worked with before (except during a remote session where I talked my client through what to do to help her), so we started with her. Once we had finished, one of the geldings came up, so he was next (and what a transformation from last time!). And then came time for the last gelding, who had walked away as soon as he saw the halter in her hand. We walked up to him. He stood with his back to us. I waited at a small distance, breathing and grounding myself. He thought for a moment, slow blinked, then turned, came to us, and dropped his head in the halter. (Usually I work without halters, but because of the relatively small size of the space and the six horses present, it was easier to halter and move away to a different spot. I maintain my rule that the horse can always walk away if they need to, and often the lead line ends up draped over the horse's body and I don't need to use it to guide the horse at all.)

 

At another place, a mare I was working with had some profound changes in her breathing and went into deep processing after I had worked with her right fore. Then she walked away. I knew she needed visceral therapy on her ovaries and help with her TMJ, but she went into a completely different pen, rubbed her neck on the stall door, then stood with her head in the stall and her back to us. We waited for a bit, then I asked if I could start with the owner's second mare while her first horse processed. I also let her know the mare might be finished for the day, and if so, I wasn't going to push it. 

 

The second mare was ready and waiting, so I worked with her. Again, she had some profound changes, then walked away before I could work with her poll, which I knew had tension still. I moved away to chat with the owner and her friend (who was also my friend, and who had arranged the trip). As I chatted, out came the first mare and positioned herself so I could work with her ovaries, then so I could work with her head. She had swelling behind her TMJ, and her nose and eyes started running as I worked, and then she took a huge shuddering breath and blew and sneezed a few times, before smelling my friend's hat with focused intensity, huge deep breaths that pulled air deep into her diaphragm and her belly. 

 

I thanked her for the honor of being able to help her, as I always do, then moved away as the second mare returned for me to work with her head. 

 

Some horses need a long time to process. Being willing and able to provide that processing time goes a long way in establishing trust. Being willing and able to work without any restraint tells each horse you trust them, and establishes their trust in you. When horses who fear strangers walk up and greet me, I know I'm on the right track, and the track I'm on is guided by what I am now going to call "interspecies energetic communication." 

 

Next time you get an idea of what to do or where to go when you're with your beloved horse (or dog, or cat, or hamster or chicken), ask yourself if that idea came from you, or if your beloved friend is energetically communicating with you. When I was working with horses in Ireland (or riding my ponies as a young teen), often I would get an idea to do something or go somewhere -- sometimes quite unorthodox. And off I'd go, with my partners-in-crime fully invested. On retrospect, I think it was their idea!

 

Horses can tell you whether or not they want fly masks or blankets or composite shoes (apologies, Eason, for my recent deafness in listening to your needs about that). Just ask. Then listen. And then one day you'll be gone a couple of days and your horse will see you from the far end of the track and come running, yelling for you, "Where have you been?!!!!! I've missed you?!!!!!"

 

And if that's already happening, congratulations. Your horse sees (and hears) you.