Case 1: This is my third visit in two weeks.

Krumpet is a three-year-old mare, retired from racing because she was not seen as good enough; was not winning any races. She has been rescued. Today she seems friendly toward me, receptive, distinctly more awake than the previous two sessions. She has already filled out, looking less gaunt, less like a clotheshorse. I now stand to her left side, my hands raised slightly away from her body. I begin to tune in:

Suddenly I ‘see’ several men in bright yellow ‘Day-Glo’ jackets, jostling about. There is a sense of fear, confusion, and panic coming from Krumpet. The pressure of men hemming her in: there is metal, metal bars at her sides, no escape from the pressure and pain…. I tell Cheryl and June, who are standing by, and are the rescuers of Krumpet.

They immediately confirm that this is the kind of clothing worn by racing stewards, or starters…those responsible for getting the horses into the starting gates. Could they have caused the deep traumas to her left flank? Could the heavy metal stall gates have pressed in on a very nervous mare to force her in to the starting gates?

I do know that the previous week, my second visit to Krumpet, I had picked up, ‘Tuned into’ three separate injuries or traumas: 1.The upper neck, just below the poles. 2.The mid-thoracic area, moving over to an area on the left ribcage just below this, 3.The left lower lumbar area and left hip/femur head.

These traumas had revealed themselves in an immediate and clear way: this horse had been injured in three places, possibly at different times, but all on the left side. The week before that, on my first visit, I had met with a wary mare, clearly not at all trusting of men, and therefore ‘numbed up’, cut off from the pain of her earlier racing life, her life in the fast lane.

So I did what I always do when I find a horse this traumatised- as little as possible! My approach with this first session is to just make the initial contact, to show that I offer care and love, not pain and trauma. The horse remembers this, and the next session brings with it the memory of the first, and becomes more effective through it.

So it is now three sessions on, Krumpet is showing herself to be a mare with a sweet and willing nature, which has all this time been hidden under layers of tightly protective and armoured muscle. She settles down as `I move my hands, now to the area around her upper neck, then to the midback and ribs, and finally to the left lumbar and flank.

All the while I have not touched her, my hands are about a foot away, and she has relaxed completely, her head drooping down, eyes closed… Now at last she trusts me and her healing has truly begun. Coupled with such loving care and support from June and Cheryl, her recovery is now not only a possibility, but a certainty.

Case 2: Mary was suffering with severe back-pain and behavioural problems;

She had progressively become skittish and unpredictable, shying away from innocuous things and making a simple ride out really dangerous for her owner….

I visited Mary at her stable-yard and gently made myself known to her, taking my time before going into the box with her. On placing my hands on her, I was immediately presented with a picture of Mary falling over onto what looked like a huge pile of concrete and builder’s rubble. I also saw a man in a dark green jacket, behaving quite brutally toward her.

Here also was his green Range Rover standing by, along with a sense of exactly when, the actual time it all occurred. These details were all confirmed as being Mary’s previous owner.

She was struck by the details of his vehicle, a green Range Rover….something I would have no way of knowing, as he lived several hundred miles away. Mary showed an improvement from that very day, losing all fear and calming down.

Case 3: The young vet watched me intently while I worked, asking now and again what I was finding.

She was newly qualified, and had a wonderfully enthusiastic approach to her work, concerned first and foremost for the suffering and well-being of the horse. She also seemed to be very open-minded about my being there…..

So I told her, and Twizzle’s owner, that I felt confident that the problem was in his spine, and that he really ought to be rested up for a good while to help recovery; to allow for the release of these spasmed muscles. I recommended at least six weeks rest, which raised eyebrows with his owner, but the vet nodded her assent. She agreed strongly that the poor horse needed rest more than anything else, and that riding was not an option. I suggested regular visits from myself over that period, once again insisting that this was a structural problem, and that because of that I could not guarantee a complete recovery. As far as I could see, this was a serious case, and one could only hope that Twizzle would respond; that with enough rest and healing treatments, the tight, armoured muscles would gradually relax, and release the underlying trapped nerves.

Another, relatively minor concern from the owner was the presence of two lumps, which she thought to be sarcoids, along the edge of the spine. These would not be helping the poor horse in terms of riding comfort either. So, with the blessing of the young vet, I began my regular visits to that yard.

My suggestion was that Twizzle should not be worked at all initially, then, as an interim measure, worked in the sand-school with no saddle or rider on him for a while, and then we would see how things went after that. Hopefully, we could gradually introduce more exercise as and when we saw some recovery. Fortunately the owner and the vet agreed to all of these suggestions. At first there seemed to be no improvement.

In fact, he seemed to get worse. His owner was a little alarmed over how stiff he seemed after that first session with me, and of how grumpy he had become…. I reassured her, citing many cases such as this, where things appeared to get worse before they got better. I told her that this was typical of spinal problems; or more specifically, of spinal problems caused by muscle tension. The weeks went by.

With the third and fourth weeks, Twizzle had progressed to being gently worked in the sand-school. His attitude had changed for the better. He was enjoying the work, and the grumpiness had gone. Also, I could now palpate, or apply mild pressure to the affected areas of the spine without any reaction from the horse. For me, this was a sure sign of progress, a sign that the muscles were relaxing as intended.

After two more weeks it was possible to put a saddle onto him and gently ride him in the school. He was now strong and confident, and I set an appointment for a couple of weeks ahead, cautioning against going too fast and too hard with him…. Well, here’s how it went:

A month later his owner phoned me, very excited, very pleased indeed! Twizzle had just won his dressage event, she crowed, Not only that, but the sarcoids on his back had completely disappeared! She could not believe it. It was a miracle, she insisted:

‘Thank you, thank you, thank you!’ she said, smiling down the telephone! I too was elated, thankful myself, once again seeing Spirit at work in the process of Healing. The trust, patience and care invested in this suffering horse had paid off.

Case 4: I am standing in the stable of a tired-looking horse called Magic.

This is the second or third visit to this particular yard. I have already treated several horses there, all with different problems. Amongst them is Norma, the grieving mare I have mentioned in the first chapter of this book. So now a group of curious women, riders and grooms, stand crowding at the stable door, leaning in to watch. There is an air of expectation.

I am being tested. I am being referred to as ‘The Horse Whisperer’ and indeed, my visits are generating some excited whispers. I have become an experiment. The ladies of the yard have conspired together to present to me a horse whose problem they all know about. The horse, perhaps aptly, is called Magic. This tired bay is showing as much interest in me, his new visitor, as an empty feedbag!

Well…maybe a bit more than that, but here I am, being observed. Several ladies crowd into the space in and around the stable door. There is an air of conspiracy; they all know something I do not. Even so, it is all in the spirit of fun, and no one is really sceptical, since they have already seen some results from previous visits. Then it happens:

Suddenly, as I lay hands on Magic, I feel my heart begin to race, Uncomfortably fast, and irregularly; Now, I know I have a good heart and I have not been drinking coffee; so, knowing it is coming from Magic, I blurt out, without hesitation: ‘Does this horse have a heart-problem?’ ‘Yes’, is the immediately affirmative reply. ‘He does!’

There is a moment of stunned silence and then a lot of surprised looks and chatter amongst the ladies crowded at the door. I have passed the test. In fact, as it turned out, just days before, Magic had been medicated by his vet for this heart condition, and was known to have a heart-murmur…..Then, not understanding that this would prove taxing to him, his rider had evented Magic the following day, in spite of the strong medication he was on. Though he seemed willing enough, this had clearly strained his heart, exhausting him. And this is what I was feeling when I put my hands on him : His pain in my body.

Case 5: This Arab mare lay on her side on the floor of her stall.

She looked tired, depressed. I walked over to her, but stood off to one side of the box out of respect for her vulnerable position. She laboriously struggled to her feet. This was an effort, a huge effort, as if she did not want to get up at all, as if she did not want to be there at all.

Her eyes were dull, sunken; her coat lacklustre. She had the look of a horse that had given up on herself, with very little will to live. Her owner, who deeply loves her, covered in brief the history of Roxy’s demise. At some point, after a promising beginning, she had developed a problem in her left foreleg, which had swollen up and refused to heal. The vet had finally injected the knee joint with a steroid. Immediately after this she went lame in all four legs, unable to stand comfortably. She took to lying down most of the time on the floor of her box. The vet’s diagnosis at this point was laminitis.

Box rest was prescribed, but made no difference. Even after several weeks. In fact, things got worse and her owner began to lose heart. The vet felt that he could do no more for the mare: it was a hopeless case. He suggested to the owner that she put Roxy down. At this point I was called in.

After my first session, Roxy did not show much response, but she clearly enjoyed the flow of energy moving through my hands. She settled into it; head drooping, eyes closed. Following on the second session, her owner reported a sudden and distinct change for the better: Roxy was now more alert; keen on her food, more comfortable overall and even happy to stand, for periods of time, on her feet. She was no longer lying for hours on her side on the floor of stable.

There was now a shine in her eyes, a lift in her spirits. Following her third visit she showed so much improvement that she was let into the field, where she was actually seen cantering about! This was unthinkable three weeks before. Roxy was beginning to enjoy life again. Although her owner has said that she will never ride her again, she seems content to keep her as a pet, as a retired horse. There are some who see this change in her as miraculous. Others are rather more sceptical, wanting to see more, wanting to see her return to eventing.

This does not seem to be part of the ‘plan’. I returned to that yard some weeks later. There was Roxy, out grazing in the field. I went over and leaned on the wooden fence. Roxy came trotting over to me, her ears forward. She approached me and nuzzled my shoulder playfully. We met eyes. We connected. I felt her strength, returned. I felt her feistiness, restored. Roxy was back.

(These case histories have been randomly selected from more than fifty, presented in Peter van Minnen’s forthcoming book: ‘Horses Have Wings’, soon to be published. Watch this website for details of how to get the book.)