Article 15 - Using Reiki to gain trust

Gaining the trust of an animal is an absolute game changer. Once it’s gained, it’s rarely lost. You have a friend for life!

In the horse world, I feel this often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Most people are focused on what the horse can do for them, and relationship and bond seem to come a poor second.

I too was guilty of this in the past. When my first pony came into my life at 14, we took him on a long ride on only his second day with us. No wonder he was so difficult to catch that first summer!

With age comes hindsight and wisdom—and thankfully, I’m no longer that person. For me, listening to what the horse needs, and prioritising a loving bond is paramount. Everything else just falls into place.

In my Reiki work, I am always awestruck by how quickly a connection is made, even with the most distrustful of horses.

Why is this?

Because horses respond to energy—and when you direct loving, healing energy toward them, they can’t help but be affected by it. It pretty much guarantees a beautiful bond.

There have been horses over the years where people have told me the horse will not tolerate me in their space—and yet, by the end of the Reiki session, the horse has their head in my chest, and their human is wide-eyed in disbelief.

There was one particularly memorable horse at a riding stable, who was so loving at heart but had massive trust issues. He was a truly beautiful, sensitive soul, and from a story that was recounted to me, it sounded like there had been some mistreatment in his previous home. The sensitive ones have a particularly hard time in our world.

In our first Reiki session, he wanted me to send the healing energy from the other side of the stable. I obliged and stood some distance from him. About 40 minutes in, he came over and began releasing a lot of tension. He guided me to work on his head, neck, and shoulders, which I did. We finished on a really good note, with his head resting on my chest.

But it was in the second session, a couple of weeks later, that a real breakthrough occurred.

The session began much like the first, with the horse wanting me to stay on the other side of the stable. But he came around more quickly this time. After just twenty minutes, he came over, put his head over my shoulder, and pulled me into a huge embrace. It melted me, and the tears started to fall.

Words can’t express the awe I felt for a horse who found it so hard to trust. This hug meant the world to me and reaffirmed why I love this work so much. When we win the heart and soul of a horse, it is an honour like no other.

After the hug, this beautiful horse invited me to work all over him. He released so much in that session.

The follow-up feedback was very encouraging. He was behaving beautifully in his work, and he had stopped being difficult to catch.Don’t you just love a happy ending?

In future Articles, I will share many other ways where reiki can benefit our animals.

If this has interested you, then you may be interested in my book, “Walking a Soulful Path: A healing journey with animals.” You can find this on amazon. This is the link:-

WALKING A SOULFUL PATH: A healing journey with animals: Amazon.co.uk: Sutton, Fiona: 9798334905573: Books