Mako
Mako came to his human as a very nervous and fearful horse. He was unable to be trained because he would panic often and worry about his surroundings. He spooked twice for no apparent reason, once throwing his rider; but instead of running, he walked over to his rider as if he wasn't sure what had happened. As it turns out, Mako’s previous owner beat him with a shovel when he wouldn’t do what he was “supposed” to do; he was treated ver poorly early in life. He is a quirky horse, and is very intuitive, and those quirks were not respected, but punished.
We first tapped on the rider's anger about how the abuse was obviously still having an impact on Mako, and her feelings about wanting to help Mako but not knowing how. We also talked about her feelings when riding and how Mako may be feeling some of her uncertainty and spooking because her outside appearance was not matching her internal feelings. Mako started yawning and becoming visibly tired (eyes half closing, head getting lower) while we were tapping on the rider. It was apparent he was processing her emotions. We then tapped on Mako, what happened to him by his previous owner, his nervousness and not trusting his surroundings or his rider. He displayed very encouraging behavioral signals that he was releasing/processing, such as walking in circles, putting his nose on his hoof, blowing, and rubbing his head on his rider.
His rider had a cognitive shift/realization at the end of our session that internally, she was feeling (when around Mako) a lot like the way she described Mako was feeling - so much responsibility and uncertainty. She also recognized that both recent times he spooked, her mistrust and internal emotions could’ve led to his panicky feeling because her outside didn’t match her inside and he most likely felt it.
After only two sessions, Mako was much less nervous and distracted in the ring, easier for his rider to handle, and seemed much calmer overall. He has not spooked again.
Alexis is a 12-year-old thoroughbred mare who seemed to be lacking confidence and was not doing well with discipline. Her caretaker described her as not able to handle discipline well. She also said that because Alexis lacked confidence, she would “freak out and rear” every single time she was being ridden through the field when other horses were out. Alexis had a previous owner who did not understand her and always told her owner she was a “bad” horse and a “dumb” horse. She’s also had pain in her hindquarters and has been stiff/not moved as well because of her previous owner.
Our first session, we tapped on Alexis not liking making mistakes and feeling badly when she is corrected or not liking when she is corrected. We also tapped on the pain she’s had in the past, and how it’s shown up in different ways in her body and behavior. After this session, I strongly felt the main issue was lack of confidence (which then lead to needing to act bigger around other horses, feeling like she's bad when she was disciplined, and not liking making mistakes). After the first session together, Alexis seemed to be handling discipline and correction much better, but was still lacking in overall confidence and seemed insecure in some ways still.
The second session we tapped on Alexis questioning her abilities, lacking confidence in herself, not feeling like she's safe, not liking being left alone (or behind - specifically on trail rides), and hearing people say she's dumb or not smart in front of her.
Since our two sessions together, Alexis's caretaker reported that she is much more confident, doesn't seem as bothered when left alone, and is relaxed and has not reared once since we worked together.
Alexis
Mister
Mister is a 17-year-old Welsh pony who was foundering and seemed to be in a lot of pain. We tapped several times for his pain, which seemed to make him less stiff. Every time I came to the barn, he would hobble over for some tapping, even if he wasn't feeling well. Due to the great care he received from his owners, he has since healed and is back in action with kids of all ages!
Buddy is a 6-year-old chestnut thoroughbred who has had two owners. Unfortunately, something happened at his previous owner's barn that made Buddy very wary of his surroundings, and especially humans. We tapped together three sessions while his new owner worked with him in between, and did a complete 180. He is now a confident, fun, secure, and cooperative horse.
You can read Buddy's entire case study (including the exact scripts that were used) HERE.
Buddy
Ben
Ben is a 12-year-old thoroughbred who used to be a race horse and was trained improperly. He was about to compete with his teenage rider. His rider said Ben requires more forceful riding to listen to her (which is not her style of riding). She said he didn't feel very present with her and would just put his head down and go. His rider also said he needed bravery to the jumps and may lack in confidence and decision making skills, and that people say "he’s dumb."
We tapped on people saying Ben is dumb and that he doesn't understand (and how it hurt his feelings), the rider's lack of confidence in him and his lack of confidence because of that, needing bravery/confidence to the jumps, not trusting himself sometimes, his rider not trusting him sometimes, and being present mentally.
Tapping on Ben was different than the others I’ve tapped on because he was constantly moving/pacing the stall, so it took some getting used to for me to understand him. After tapping with Ben, I brought the rider into the stall (she was giving a riding lesson while I tapped with him, otherwise I would’ve tapped on him with her present). I taught her the points and we tapped together - I had her tap on herself with the following phrases based on her words. “Even though Ben can be unpredictable and it makes me feel uncertain, I accept myself and how I feel…” - Reminders: This uncertainty, Ben is unpredictable, He can be unpredictable, It makes me feel uneasy..."
We also tapped with her on “Even though sometimes it feels like Ben isn’t present when I’m riding him and it makes me feel uneasy, I accept myself and how I feel…” - Reminders: Ben’s lack of presence, His lack of presence, I feel uncertain, it makes me uneasy. I also suggested the rider tell ben how she is feeling before the competition so her “outsides and insides match”.
I checked in with the rider after their competition and she said Ben seemed more present and they rode much better together than they have in the past. There was one piece of the course he hesitated on but it has always been a consistent fear and we did not yet address it with tapping. She also said she did speak to Ben before the competition about her own feelings as well.
Lovely is a “visiting horse” to the barn I saw her at because she has a habit of dropping her shoulder and spinning when she doesn’t want to do something her rider wants her to do. Lovely is a beautiful young mare who is good natured. However, she is strong willed and easily distracted when in the ring with her rider, and would constantly be trying to look around and not pay attention to her human or her task at hand. She is very smart, sweet, athletic, with a very nice temperament, however she was about to squander the opportunity to have a great life with a nice owner if she didn't break this habit.
During our first session we tapped at least eight rounds. We tapped on how hard it is for Lovely to be present in the ring, how bored she gets, how she just wants to do what she wants to do, how she has to do things she doesn’t want to do and it makes her feel like resisting, how it’s so hard for her to be present and pay attention to what her human wants, how she doesn’t want to listen to what her rider wants her to do, how hard it is to pay attention to what her rider wants her to do, how she gets distracted by so many interesting things happening around her and it’s tough to stay focused, and how she’s ready to start listening and cooperating. We used acknowledgement phrases like “I deeply and completely love and accept myself”, “I’m ready to start listening, I’m ready to start cooperating,” and “I’m a good, smart, girl who is capable of cooperating.”
I followed up with the barn owner a few days after our session and she said, “Lovely seems to have more focus on the rider and is less worried about her surroundings. She is responding and trying to do more of what is asked of her much more willingly than when we first started and is accepting new questions and happy to listen.”
Before our second session, the barn owner reported a marked improvement and said it actually felt like she had a horse under her that was like “ok what are we doing?”
During the second session, I immediately noticed that Lovely seemed more tuned into me. She still wanted to see what was going on outside the stall every now and then but it seemed different because she would always bring her head back in when I’d start on my hand or it got to the part where it was time to tap on her head, or I’d ask if I could tap on her head. It almost seemed like her distraction this time came from not really needing to tap as much, but I tapped on her anyways and we were productive.
We tapped on feeling resistance when she sometimes having to do things she doesn’t want to do, finding it hard to be present sometimes when there’s so many interesting things going on, having to do things she doesn’t want to do makes her feel resistance and like dumping her rider, Sometimes having to do what she doesn’t want to do, and sometimes getting distracted by alllll the interesting things going on around her. We used the acknowledgement phrases “I’m ready to be present and cooperate with my human” and “ I’m ready to start listening and ready to start cooperating.”
I followed up with the barn owner several days later who said Lovely was doing great and was present and willing to do what is asked of her!
Lovely was set to go back to her owner the week after our third and final session together, so although she had made marked improvements, we focused on Lovely not feeling as though she has to take over when her rider is not being "alpha" enough. She seemed even more than open and present with me right away this time.
Some of the scripts we tapped on were even though “sometimes people are going to ask me to do things I don’t want to do”; “sometimes it’s hard for me to be submissive, I want to be the leader”; “I don’t want to listen to someone who is submissive, I want to be the leader”; “[my rider] can be submissive and I want to take over, I want to be the leader”; When I don’t want to do something it makes me want to spin and dump my rider”; “People who are submissive are going to ride me”, and more.
Our acknowledgement phrase was “I deeply and completely love and accept myself and I’m going to cooperate with my rider even when they as me to do things I don’t want to do.”
We ended our time together with the script: Even though I need to be able to do what is asked of me, even when I don’t want to….I’m ready to cooperate and work with whoever is riding me. Lovely knew when she was done with our session, as she'd lose interest and stick her head over the door in order to “avoid” involvement. I honored her space, especially since we’d done a ton of work and we ended the session. Lovely doesn’t show many physical signs of releasing, however our last session, she seemed very relaxed and yawned and blew out her nose a few times.
Lovely has not spun and dumped her rider since. She has reportedly been a wonderful and cooperative horse to ride and is living a great life.
Lovely
Girlfriend
Girlfriend is a high energy horse who is very sensitive. We have had two sessions together and are still working together, so this case study is currently incomplete.
Our first two sessions we have worked on her need to rush the jumps and feeling out of control when she feels her rider is out of balance. Our first session together, Girlfriend would not let me tap the bladder meridian (down the spine) and wasn't comfortable with anything past her shoulder, however, our second session together she was much more calm and open to me tapping on every point regardless of where it was. Her riders report that she is becoming more controlled and not rushing quite as much. She's young and energetic, so she still takes extra effort to handle, but she is not feeling quite as frantic in or out of the ring.
This case study will be updated when our work together is complete.