Why horses?
Mirroring
It is often said that horses ‘mirror’ human behavior. This has nothing to do with the complex mind games of projection people will sometimes unconsciously play with each other, nor does it solely reside in some mystical quality many people might consider ‘woo-woo’. Horses can literally sense emotions. They are so incredibly sensitive that they pick up on the slightest change in heart rate,
breath and blood pressure, and will therefore respond to what our bodies are communicating, rather than to what we are saying or even consciously thinking. There is nothing vague or mystical about this, it is in fact rather scientific and simply how they survive:
horses depend on each other for their survival. They form close relationships with their herd mates, and living this close together enables them to pick up on anything any herd member might be sensing: a hungry lion approaching, a gust of wind stirring autumn leaves. A horse that would hide his emotions, lie about his motives, or be disconnected from his body, would be unreliable and thus an immediate threat to the well-being of the herd. Horses want what’s real, they stay away from what is not. They are assertive when they need to be, but never hold a grudge. They flee from danger when their bodies tell them to get away, and they release the fear the moment they no longer need its warning.
Horse sense
We, too, have the ability to tune in to what is going on around and inside of us, through our body awareness. Although a human who is disconnected from this ‘horse sense’, and who is not in her body, might not necessarily be a direct threat to others like a horse in a herd would be, she could certainly endanger herself, her integrity and her health by not listening to her ‘gut’. Horses can help us reconnect with this body awareness, and with our intuitive ability to know what is right for us at any given time. They provide a kind of live biofeedback, showing us when we are being true to ourselves and when we are ignoring what we should be paying attention to.
Mystical beings
And then, of course, there is the mystical part. There has always been a spiritual and archetypal dimension to horses. One only has to look at the role horses have played in countless myths and sagas in every imaginable culture to see that for thousands of years, they have been a source of inspiration and wisdom. There is just something about horses, something that speaks to us about strength, beauty, wildness and freedom, and which reminds us of a love for life we may have long forgotten. When we learn to connect, communicate and cooperate with a majestic and powerful creature like a horse, we connect with a deeper part of ourselves, the part that too, longs to be strong, beautiful, wild and free. We start to take a different perspective on our significant relationships and on the way we have been taught to live our lives. Interaction with horses can provide us with the tools and the insights we need to make a meaningful change in our lives. They inspire, open hearts and bring to the surface what is ready to be healed.
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More about us
Workshops
In this introductory two-day workshop we will explore the Epona principles in active interaction with
the horses and each other. Emotions and body sensations as information, activating the authentic self,
the power of intuition: we will find that these are not mere abstract concepts, but very real skills
that horses naturally possess.
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