Donnie and
Diane
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
