Can We Help Horses Heal from Trauma and Grief? Using Physical Touch to Heal Emotional Wounds with Good Shepherd Gabriel

Equestrian Voices

Horses are well known for their power to heal. The positive feelings we have after spending time with our horses are, after all, one of the main reasons why we ride, and equine therapy is used to treat a wide range of physical and mental health challenges.

How often, though, do we think about the flip side of the coin - how do our actions help, or hinder, our horses’ mental and emotional well being? How can we as horse lovers be more in tune with the spiritual needs of our partners, and show up for them in a state that disrupts their natural way of being as little as possible? How can modalities like bodywrok help our horses heal when they need it?

This week, host Caroline Culberston sits down with Gabriel Gandzjuk, better known as Good Shepherd Gabriel, to discuss his work healing horses with both mental and physical injuries in their lives mainly through shiatsu massage and acupressure. Their deep conversation also delves into:

• What “healing for horses” means, both physically and mentally

• How horses process touch, and how it figures into his work

• The ways in which horses process grief, and how we can support our horses when they experience it

• Pain and stress behaviors in horses from the perspective of a practitioner who grew up outside of the horse world and didn’t come to them until adulthood

• How you can support your horse spiritually, physically, and emotionally