Background
Henry is a lovely old gentleman who lives with Claire in Berkshire. He is a purebred New Forest Pony, 14hh and 27 years old. He has been living with Claire since the age of seven and has helped her own children learn to ride.
To Claire’s knowledge, Henry has never had any healing bodywork before.
He has never had any particularly stressful events in his life and has a good temperament. There is arthritis in both of Henry’s hocks, and he has Cushing’s disease, for which he takes some medication. He is stabled at night and is fed loads of hay and Happy Hoof.
Session 1
We walked down to the field to find Henry, who came straight over to see us. After some strokes and treats, I asked him if it was ok for us to connect. Henry was very enthusiastic and immediately offered me a very strong heart connection.
He showed me both of his hocks in turn. Henry’s left hock felt much more stuck than the right, and he was able to shift and release a constant stream of blocked energy from here as I worked with him. I experienced a full body twitch whilst this was happening and
Henry was constantly licking and chewing.
With his permission, I was able to connect with the whole length of each leg, but it was the hocks that showed the biggest energetic shift. During the session, both of us gave big sighs and Henry also passed significant amounts of wind along with more licking and chewing.
The session soon came to a close. It was a cold and windy day, and Henry appeared very pleased with how it had gone. Claire was thrilled with his response to my work with him.
Session 2
Today was much warmer, and we found Henry in the field enjoying a nap in the sunshine.
Claire had mentioned that she had seen no noticeable change in Henry’s gait over the past week but she was very encouraged by his response to the session. Given his age, our aim was to ensure that he was as comfortable as he could be.
Henry came over to the fence again and immediately connected with me, heart-to-heart.
Today, he showed me his right hock first. As I sensed into the joint, I experienced a huge twitch through the whole of my body as the energy shifted. Henry had a good shake and then began to lick and chew.
The next place he showed me was his right fetlock. Henry again had a really good shake as we both sensed the stuck energy releasing from the joint. Still with the right leg, Henry took me further down to the bulbs and coronet band, then back up again to the fetlock. He exhibited more licking and chewing as I tuned into all three areas, sensing them softening and easing as we continued the session.
When I asked Henry where he would like my attention next, he took me down to his left pastern and bulbs for more licking and chewing. We moved up a little to the left fetlock, and at this point, Henry had a good blow, followed by licking and chewing and passing considerable amounts of wind.
Following Henry’s lead, I was drawn to his pelvic area, specifically the joint at the base of his sacrum with his first tailbone (S3/CD1). There was a sense of a shear pattern as if his tail had slid slightly across to the left. As the energy in the area was released, I was able to get a sense of the disc shifting and the joint rebalancing.
Checking in with Henry, I saw that he was standing with a very droopy bottom lip. He immediately followed this up with licking and chewing and more wind releasing, all with his head nearly on the ground. I found myself continuously yawning, and Henry had a few minutes of blowing as the session drew to a close.
It ended fairly bluntly as Henry became distracted by the horse in the adjacent field, who was having a run-around.
Again, Claire was extremely pleased with the outcome of the session, although she is realistic about how much difference can be made with a pony of Henry’s age.
This case history provides an example of my healing work with pets and animals.
The Ytene Healing® approach offers Somatic Experiencing®, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, Osteodouce, Reiki and Animal Reiki to both human and animal clients, either in combination or independently. All the therapies offered are gentle due to their nature but can elicit profound healing.
Animal Healing sessions are intended to complement, not replace, the relationship you have with your veterinary practitioner. If you suspect your animal has a health problem, please see your Vet.
