Resistance: Zim's Story

Handzim, pronounced handsome, is my purebred Arabian gelding. When I got him 3 years ago all I knew of him was that he'd been abused and had some ‘head' issues: he didn't like to be handled/touched at the poll and especially his left ear. He was cute and we took to each other at first glance. After a year of working with him and gaining his trust, he was almost ‘bomb proof' about his ‘head' issues. Life was good in our household for two years until December 2003 when he just didn't seem to be my ‘happy go lucky' horse. Handzim just wasn't ‘with it'. He was withdrawing from me and from his surroundings.

His ‘head' issues reappeared. I was perplexed: for the past two years this was a horse that would drop his nose to the ground and allow a small child to halter him. Now, I could barely get one on because of the anxiety and intense, erratic head tossing. I knew there was no medical reason as the cause. John, my farrier agreed something was wrong, as he'd known Zim to play with him, pull tools out of his ‘toolbox' and close the door on his truck. John then told me about Van.

Van did an assessment of Zim. He determined quickly that Zim's resistance was not due to physical pain, or poor handling, but it was fear remembered. I learned that just like humans, the horses can store the memory of emotional trauma in the fascia tissue, and that a recent emotional or physical traumatic incident can activate the memory stored in the tissues. Recommendation: Zim would need body, mind and spirit work via Myofascial Release, Acupressure and Love. As I watched, Van would activate the fear (memory) by lightly touching the tissue. He'd connect mentally with Zim and guide him to release the tension: the fear. Zim stretched and held his body in ways I'd never before seen him do. At times he'd let out a ‘big' sigh and become so relaxed.

As the sessions progressed Zim's anxiety and his head issues diminished. It is amazing-I have my old happy go lucky playful horse back. He is now in a state of mind that when something scary happens, he stays mentally with me. He's easy to halter again and welcomes people to rub his face and poll. I owe Van an immense THANK YOU for taking the time and trouble to work with my horse and help him with his problems!