Holistic Animal Therapist uses EFT to calm fearful horse

By LaVaughn Hengst

Even though it is accepted that animals do have meridians and acupuncture points, an often used way until now to do EFT for animals was by surrogate or proxy tapping.  This means you tap on yourself to make the changes in the animal happen.  Some folks think that animals don't like to be tapped on and no one knows where the points on the animals are anyway.

However, I work with animals as a holistic animal therapist and often use acupuncture and acupressure to stimulate healing for physical problems.  I also have to deal quite often with behaviour problems.  Because I am already familiar with the points, it was easy to apply EFT to animals using the same rules as for humans.  I tap on the animals themselves.  In the course of my experimenting, I have found that:

• The important points are easy to find
• Horses and other animals rarely object to the tapping
• Tapping shows RESULTS.

There are certain points on every meridian that balances the meridian, also on horses, dogs, and cats.  Horses also have all the meridian endpoints close to the hoof; they can also be balanced here.  One can balance the Shu- or Mu-points in the same way.  It gets really interesting when one can test which points need to be stimulated.

Not only that, there are certain acupressure points which deal with FEAR.  There are also certain points which have a direct influence on aggression, anxiety, jealousy, overeating (animals also have eating problems) and other problems as well.

Let me tell you a story about Fee, my 22 year old Trakehner mare.  In Germany, Trakehners are known for being a little "crazy" more often than not, which is unfair to the breed.  In my opinion, they are beautiful and sensitive animals and if one knows how they tick, they will outperform any other breed.

In her youth, Fee was more than a little sensitive, when she even suspected that there was danger ahead she would jump in the air, tear the reins out of my hands, turn on a dime and gallop madly in the opposite direction all at once!  She is also very sensitive to changes in the weather and becomes very nervous when a storm is approaching.

Just last week, Fee and I took a "relaxing" stroll in our nearby forest and took a path that we've been on at least 100 times in the course of the past 15 years.  Next to the path is a 10-yard stretch of trees, then a busy street, and then more trees and a meadow on the other side.

Well, there just happened to be a nasty old plastic bag lying on the other side of the street (a good 30 yards away!) and my horse spied it and started getting nervous.  As I insisted that we continue, the nervousness escalated until I felt like I was sitting on a stick of dynamite waiting to explode.  Then, to make matters worse, some insensitive hunters had tied another (large!) plastic bag on a tree on OUR side of the road to mark a tree that was to be cut down.

When Fee saw that, she planted all four feet and refused to go any further.  I could feel her heart beating through the saddle and she was snorting like a bull.  If I hadn't had my legs tightly clamped around her, she would have been off like a flash.  Then, because the weather was obviously changing, the wind started blowing and guess what happened to the plastic bag!

This must all seem ridiculous to all of you non-riders but actually it isn't funny because many horses and riders have similar experiences every day.  I was totally exasperated because we had had such problems before even though Fee usually knows that plastic bags carry carrots and apples more often than not.

I decided to use EFT, and, as always, used it on MYSELF first.  When my energy system is unbalanced, how can my horse function in the correct manner?  Our energy systems and auras are connected physically and mentally.  I tapped for my impatience and my own nervousness as to what my horse was going to do next.  I tapped that I would keep a clear mind and not get angry with Fee, as she was only reacting as a horse that is protecting itself from predators.  After all, plastic bags have indeed been known to jump out of trees on occasion.

Then I jumped down and tapped on the hoof points as well as I could, as Fee was still very nervous and agitated.  I then decided to tap on all of the fear points and then tapped on myself again.  It doesn't matter how well a horse is trained, when it fears for its life, a high-strung horse will run away from danger.

In this case, it didn't take very long until we were both calmer.  I then lead her past the terrible bag with no problem.  Instead of making a loop as usual, we then took the same path back home. Even though we zoomed past the demon (just to be safe), Fee didn't shy or come to a screeching halt upon seeing the troublesome bag.

In addition to using EFT for behaviour problems, one can also use it to prevent behaviour problems, as with horses that take part in tournaments, or, for that matter, show dogs.  One can tap on a pet before it has to go to the vet or before a vacation, the possibilities are endless.

I use this method quite often in my practice.  Clients understand the method, find it easy to use and see results.  The results are even better when the pet owner taps on himself, as many knowingly or unknowingly support or allow the offensive behaviour.

For example, fearful horses usually have an owner who is afraid of falling off the horse.  Two fighting cats in the same household often have owners who quarrel themselves - the cats can't stand the tension.

LaVaughn Hengst