Maverick’s owner came to me recently enquiring as to whether Reiki would help her lovely horse. She competes regularly at weekends in Dressage competitions and is also jumping big courses qualifying for major shows. He is worked 6 days a week.

His owner mentioned that Maverick hasn’t seemed himself lately, and when schooling him, she would notice that he found it difficult to do certain movements – almost confused as to what is being asked of him. She also found that on the morning of a competition he would work himself up into a bit of a “tizz” and refused to load in the lorry - often making them late for the competition. Once in the lorry, Maverick would often be quite unsettled, refusing to eat his hay and arriving at the competition in a stressed state.

I carried out a course of Reiki treatments so that he received one every week for 6 weeks. Initially Maverick was very wary of the treatment, however he accepted every treatment. Before any session with an equine client, I always carry out a complete body scan so that I can find the areas that have energy blocks or “hot spots”.

There was one particular area over Maverick’s loins that caused him some discomfort, and as soon as I placed my hands above this area, Maverick reacted by putting his ears back, swishing his tail and turning his head towards me, all of which told me he was not comfortable with me treating this spot. His owner also confirmed that this is the exact spot that his physio had detected was causing him problems. I continued to treat this area for the full 6 weeks - not directly as the energy from the healing was too strong, but by channelling the energy elsewhere on his body where he was comfortable to receive it. On the 6th treatment, Maverick showed no signs of discomfort in his back, and allowed me to carry out direct healing on his back.

Maverick has really benefited from Reiki. His owner said that only after his second healing, he seemed back to his usual self and for the first time loaded onto the lorry without any worry, and even eat his hay which was previously unheard off.

Maverick was lovely to treat, to the extent that whenever he saw me after that first healing session, he seemed to know what I was there for. He started yawning even at the first sight of me before I even touched him! (yawning is a classic response from a horse to the energy they are receiving and shows that they are relaxed and accepting the healing). The healing has helped Maverick rebalance his body so that he could work effectively for his owner. It has also helped him deal with his own anxieties on an emotional level.

I work intuitively with horses and communicate to them through the Reiki. Maverick showed me that he wanted to try really hard for his owner but is also a very big worrier and he thought that he wouldn’t be good enough to do the things his owner wanted to do. I found after the second healing that a lot of the worry had gone and that Maverick was able to carry on his work happily. His owner has been really thrilled with the results so far.

Thor's owner Jenny came to me asking me to try healing on him, in the hope that it would help their relationship and open up the lines of communication between them.

Thor is a welsh cob and is trained to western riding. His owner had previously done alot of groundwork training with him to establish their relationship from the ground.

Jenny hasn't ridden Thor on a regular basis for some time due to medical reasons, and she told me her long term aim was to be able to get on Thor and ride him on a hack without getting "stuck" or having problems, and to just be able to enjoy his company and being able to work together as a team. Thor lacks confidence when hacking out and quite often they won't get out of the main yard gate without him stopping and not wanting to move forwards. Jenny feels there is a genuine fear there, and she wants to be able to work through this so they can go out for hacks together either on their own or with others. Thor can often display other behaviour traits such as bucking on the spot when they are out.

Jenny wanted to know if Thor was happy in his work and with their relationship, and wanted to them both to be able to progress together in a gentle, ethical way that would work for both of them, and to find out if there was anything that was preventing them from doing so.

Thor is one of those horses that has been labelled in his yard. He wasn't always met with positive reactions from people. He is not an aggressive or nasty animal. He has been simply misunderstood by the people around him, but where he has in the past been constantly labelled (not by his owner I hasten to add) he started to believe what he was being told and so his confidence and self esteem was rock bottom. On his first healing, his sacral chakra (area of the body where the saddle would sit and is associated with low confidence and relationships) was really blocked. It also amazed me that when I placed my hands on his shoulders (connected to his heart chakra) I felt such an overwhelming sense of love from him. Thor has a massive heart and beautiful soul and he kept saying to me that people don't see this, or see the good in him. He also told me he really wants to be able to understand what Jenny is asking of him but he gets confused alot because he is worried about doing the wrong thing. He wants to be able to go out for a hack with Jenny but needs to take confidence also from her.

Thor was very wary with his first healing. He really didn't know what it was at all. Also he is a very masculine horse that doesn't like to let his guard down, so he didn't open up to me straight away. It took about three to four sessions with him before he truly opened up the lines of communication with me, and allowed the healing to flow fully. I felt a huge sense of relief from him during each healing that he was able to chat to someone in a way that he would be understood, and he really did begin to accept and enjoy the healing.

I have seen a dramatic change in both Thor and Jenny since the reiki sessions began. Thor is much more relaxed through his muscles and has changed shape. He is not an overly chatty horse and prefers just to stand in his stable soaking up the reiki energy. In fact one time, he took both Jenny and I by surprise when he started swaying back and forth. We thought he was about to fall over but thankfully didn't. As with all my equine clients who have regular treatments, he now looks forward to his sessions and puts himself into his stable when I arrive. He shows me where he needs the healing by placing his body near me to receive the healing. He stops mid way to either pass droppings or to have a drink before repositioning himself with me again.

Thor is very happy now, and seems pleased that Jenny decided to try reiki on him. Their relationship has deepened to the extent that Jenny can now communicate with Thor in a way that she never thought possible before. She said she can really understand him now. They have shared many special moments during the healing session where their energies have connected and they could feel the love between them. Jenny now feels able to work together to move a step closer to her goal of going out and having fun with each other. Reiki has given Thor a channel to release all the emotions and feelings that have built up over time, and has enabled him to communicate things with Jenny that have in the past either blocked them or prevented them from moving forward. Jenny said that the reiki really has opened her eyes, and allowed her to see Thor in a different way, and has given her a gentle and more natural approach to working with him. She said she has learnt how to truly listen to Thor and to appreciate his needs, emotions and feelings.

Thor continues to have "top up" sessions to keep him balanced, and I feel very sure that the future will be positive for them both.