From the very beginning, Donnie was a shy horse; he would stand pinned against the back wall of his stall, cringing, whenever someone came down the aisle, and we had difficulty picking up his feet and even getting his halter on over his ears. It was clear he had been mistreated in the past and that we needed to take our time with him, starting from the beginning and patiently trying to earn his trust.

He made considerable progress, but it just wasn’t enough. Donnie eventually began exhibiting “panic attacks” that seemed completely unprovoked. We had veterinarians check him over, but none could find signs of an underlying physical cause. We even tried treating him for EPM which, in rare cases, can manifest in the form of an exaggerated menace response, but all to no avail.

Something was still not right and Donnie was becoming even more unpredictable. He would go a month without incident and then, suddenly and for no apparent reason, have another “episode.” At a complete loss, I turned him out for the winter, determined to try again in the spring after he had had some time off.

As spring was approaching, I was trying to think of new ways to approach Donnie and his training when I first received an e-mail from Diane. Like most people, I didn’t know much about Reiki, but with nothing to lose, I asked her to come out and meet Donnie.

From the very first session, I noticed a subtle change in him. Normally shy at feeding time among the herd, Donnie would hang back and let the other horses feed first. But this evening, he walked right up between the two most dominant horses in the field and ate his dinner. To my amazement, there were no confrontations.

Since then, after additional sessions with Diane, Donnie has become completely comfortable in the barn allowing us to not only to put his halter on over his ears, but to scratch them as well! He seems more relaxed and assured, to the extent that, during one of his Reiki sessions, he remained lying down nearly the whole time Diane worked on him!

And his nickers to Diane when she walks into the barn assure us that we are doing something right for him.

The change in him is undeniable. We now feel confident slowly starting him back in training and hopefully, with a little bit of Reiki and a lot of love, we can help to make a difference for this special little horse.

Jacquie Elliot, Glenshee Equestrian  

Montgomery, New York