The success of people who work with horses depends a great deal on the energy they bring to the relationship, and recognizing the energy of the horse and how to respond to it. Auras are just one of the tools we can work with in horse work.
A definition of an aura (from the Oxford Dictionary):
* an emanation surrounding the body of a living creature, viewed by mystics, spiritualists, and some practitioners of complementary medicine as the essence of the individual, and allegedly discernible by people with special sensibilities.
Just like people, horses have auras. It can take some time to develop the ability to notice them. An aura may grow larger when under stress. With horses, many times they expand their energy field to keep you out or shrink it to keep you close.
Cultivating the ability to notice horse’s auras is valuable in horse work. Also it’s valuable to notice your own to make sure there is a good feeling there and there is comfort with the horse and the space between you. Notice the feeling between you and how it differs with different horses.
Both the Ortho-Bionomy bodywork and Liberty training I do require more than following the various steps. The techniques are an introduction, a way to navigate and see what energy will be needed to work with each horse and person.I have seen that the ability to notice and develop more intuitive responses grows in students through working the steps. Both types of training really rely heavily on energetic connection and tracking. Much of what we pick up from horses in terms of who they are on a soul level is evident in their auras.
I wrote this poem about the aura of sunlight around horses at day’s end which hopefully can create a visual for what surrounds a horse and ourselves, energetically.
Horses have Auras
When the sun dips down
and burnishes the wheat-colored land,
The horses, backlit, glow around the edges
Their sorrel and bay coats catch the light
and light explodes against their manes and tails
Even the grays, having rolled in the adobe soil
have golden pink tails and manes
that glow as auras in the spreading deepening light.
their ears swivel back and forth, listening
their heads at right angles to each other
their necks almost touching,
the tips of the hairs on their manes and tails glow as
they wait for dinner.
Wait for the pungent scent of winter hay
and the rustle
accompanied by the voices of humans.
(copyright Susan Smith)
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Just a beautiful blog, Susan, with so much to think about. I love the poem, and will use it as part of my Sharing Territory meditation. Thank you.
“The success of people who work with horses depends a great deal on the energy they bring to the relationship, and recognizing the energy of the horse and how to respond to it.”
My trainer has said this to me many, many times. Greatly enjoyed your poem.