Anxious and neurotic horse with emotional trauma

Change high head carriage of horses

Emotional tension in horses

Sore dipped back and traumatic past

Nat and Judith after a Buqi session
  • Scars on shoulder in shape of pitchfork penetration
  •  Neurotic behaviour, hyper-alert, compulsive licking
  •  Release of tension; yawning, scratching, nodding off.
  •  Back shape changes over time
  •  Deepening a connection with his ‘special person’
  •  Becoming increasingly settled and trusting
  •  Neurotic behaviours diminishing over time.

When I first met Nat he was obviously a rather traumatised fellow; a compulsive licker, a box walker, eyes out on stalks, guarded about his body generally, especially guarded around his shoulder and back and with many an idiosyncratic behaviour in the stable, field, under saddle, etc. His ‘special person’ is his carer who has formed a deep connection with this dear fellow, who has learned to massage him, to be ‘on his side’ and to make steps into entering into his world as ‘trustworthy friend’. 

The most obvious element was his very dipped back and high head carriage. During the first Buqi session he revealed his issue surrounding his shoulder. There is evidence of 4 round scars identically placed to match the pattern of a pitchfork having penetrated the skin. There appeared to be a lot of held fear in the body around this. During the first Buqi session there was a lot of spontaneous twitching to the underlying and surrounding fascia of the shoulder. Over time this has ceased to be an issue but at the time it was at the forefront of his concerns and therefore of the treatment itself. 

What also unfolded was his reluctance/inability to flex through the back at all upon stimulation. He was guarded, defensive and neurotic about being touched here. I taught Judith to stroke and gently massage this area and we talked extensively about recovery, supporting the spine, releasing the tension, etc. Over the course of several Buqi sessions his back has visibly changed shape; become less dipped and more supported. During the last session he was able to flex the spine upwards upon stimulation. 

During Buqi he has held some moments of deep relaxation and deepening of the breath. His general demeanour has physically softened, his eye is softer and he appears to be much more ‘grounded’. Apparently some of his trickier behaviours have diminished and there has been a general improvement in behaviour and attitude.