Healing with Reiki

The limitations of equine Reiki healing are not defined. Its capabilities include relief from anxiety and depression, relief from conditions aggravated by stress, accelerated recovery after sickness, injury, or surgery, management of stall behaviors (commonly referred to as stall vices) such as weaving and cribbing, support during transitions (changes in accommodation or schedule).

What Reiki looks like

A Reiki treatment can take up to an hour. It is given in silence and preferably in a quiet atmosphere. The horse’s owner or caregiver is invited to be onsite during the treatment.
The Reiki practitioner works hands-on, placing the hands in various positions on the horse’s body, or hands-off, several centimeters from the body, or standing several meters away at the stall door or the paddock gate. Reiki healing is also practiced as a distance (remote) treatment. Hands are never placed on an open wound or diseased area of the body, nor on sensitive parts of the body. The practitioner allows the horse to guide the form of the treatment. Horses and their environments are unpredictable and the work must be approached with flexibility. It is sometimes necessary to pause and resume or reschedule the treatment.

What Reiki feels like

Humans receiving Reiki treatment report sensations of warmth or tingling where the practitioner’s hands are on or close to the body, or a feeling of relaxation and wellbeing, or no effect at all. The horse often appears oblivious to a treatment. Horses might show affection and sometimes curiosity — most horses are unaccustomed to having a human in their immediate space who is fully engaged with them but not talking, only observing intently and listening deeply, asking nothing of them. It is not unusual for a horse to bring attention to parts of its body that need care or relief. The horse might paw the ground or lick a leg or foot, or reach to another part of its body. A treatment can leave a horse deeply relaxed or sleepy or experiencing a ‘release’ such as yawning or urinating or passing gas. A release is noted and reported to the owner or caregiver.

Insights and intuitive communication

For much of my life I have experienced a quickened communication with many animals. The information that I gain about an animal is an echo of their energy state and their needs. During and after a Reiki treatment my intuitive energy is highly activated and I continue to gain insights into a horse’s physical and feeling state, sometimes indefinitely. If my insights concern the horse’s wellbeing I consider it my responsibility to convey that to the owner or caregiver for them and their veterinary professional to interpret.

Two days after a Reiki treatment I write a summary of the treatment session and send this to the owner as an emailed Word document. I am always available to discuss the treatment session and to answer questions.

I do not have veterinary or medical training.
Reiki treatment does not replace veterinary care.
The insights that I share with an animal’s owner or caregiver are not intended to be used for diagnostic purposes.