Stable herds are so important for any horse. They are a vital component to creating species appropriate lifestyles for our horses and allowing them to live naturally. But stable companions and herds are even more important when it comes to rescuing and rehabilitating.

To share a little story, my OTTB Arrow was a complete mess when I got him. He had so many behavioral and physical issues stemming from his traumatic life on the track and emotional and physical trauma he endured from the moment he was born. His gut was destroyed, his adrenals with shot, and his brain health was very unstable. He was struggling so much despite consent based training and continued time and patience – he had deep rooted trauma and inflammation that was causing continuous relapses and flare ups.

I tried so many different things with him before I really went down the path of becoming certified in my line of work and really diving into rehabilitation cases. It wasn’t until I started exploring the facets of energy work, essential oil healing, and correct nutrition that I actually started seeing results and we started making real progress. It was a long journey, but it was a successful one as I was finally able to get to the root of his weaknesses and help him renew, restore, and rewild the right way.

But as I reflect on our journey together – which is a wild one – something I have really been thinking about has been the foundation layer of Arrow’s healing – a stable herd.

I know it might sound obvious or simple, but it’s true. Stable companions are what laid the foundation for Arrow’s healing to take off with the additional therapies I implemented in his healing journey. He would not be the horse he is today without the support from his herd and stable environment in nature. Without grounded horses to gain support from and co-regulate with, all the therapies and remedies I have done with him over the years would not have been as life changing as they were. And that is a fact.

This realization has really settled in as I have reflected on Orion’s life since his passing and the legacy that he has left here. When Orion was passing, one of the many things he told me was that he helped Arrow for me; that he prepared him for our journey together. And that is nothing but the truth. He really did heal Arrow and provided so much support for that horse – support that no amount of energy work, essential oil healing, or nutritional adjustments could have ever provided. Maybe one day – several years down the road – Arrow would have found some healing, but never to the extend and level that he obtained from Orion. It was a special form of renewal and healing that was meant to take place between those two – and it happened right from the beginning from the moment they met. They were an instant match because they needed each other.

Orion was such a grounded soul and provided stability for Arrow when he thought the world was out to get him. He gave him the courage to relax and trust through helping him work through his trauma and cope with stressors. For about the first year and a half of being here, Arrow couldn’t function without Orion by his side. Anytime Arrow would get anxious or stressed, he would turn right to Orion and find comfort in him. He would push him around, rest by him, eat by him, and stay with him wherever he went. They were inseparable and Orion was his safety net – he couldn’t function without him.

But over time and hard work, healing started taking place. Arrow started getting more confident in himself and his environment, and he started finding the courage to explore life without Orion right by his side. He stopped pushing Orion around, started finding his own places to rest around the property, and started exploring with his other herd mate, Zen. It was like he had finally found a breakthrough.

But how does this process actually work and how did Orion really help Arrow heal?

Well if we look at horses in the wild, we see them living in huge herds – caring for their family and travelling together – as they move through the adventures of life. The biggest thing they value is companionship to find safety and stability in the stressors and environments around them. As herd and prey animals, it is SO important for horses to be with other horses to feel safe and truly thrive. Without companions, so much stress builds within the body as they try to navigate the craziness of life on their own and rely on one energy source (their own) to provide them with the strength they need to get through the daily stressors of live. And for domesticated horses, these stressors are abundant so its so important for horses to have companions and reliable energy sources to regulate off of. Especially ones that have been through so much trauma to the point of being so shut down and closed off that they don’t even have the ability to regulate their own energy. It takes a team of support to renew the soul, restore the body, and rewild the heart and a huge part of that team is having companions of the same species to support one another. 

To break it down, co-regulation may be a more familiar term to relate to this form of healing and support, but rather than just focusing on breathing in sync like co-regulation implies, I want to bring a stronger emphasis to the energy awareness and exchange that occurs within this form of healing. The communication that takes place between individuals through frequency and energy awareness as each horse balances each other through leveling each other’s nervous systems. And the simplicity of support and healing that automatically happens within individuals. We are always trying to so hard to “fix” our horses, when they literally know how to support themselves. We just have to give them the ability to fulfill it.

So switching back to Arrow and Orion’s story – the realization of Arrow’s healing and growth all just really hit my heart hard when Orion passed. It was like I finally realized the impact of Arrow’s healing journey and saw the huge progress that he had made since the day I brought him home. I know it may sound silly, but sometimes its hard to see the huge milestones of progress when you are “in” the process everyday. Sometimes we don’t see the rate of progress and growth until we are forced to step back and see the reality of change from the outside looking in.

And for me, the thing that forced me into seeing Arrow’s growth was when Orion never came home. When we took Orion away in the trailer and came back empty, Arrow kept his stability. 

If Orion left Arrow’s side a year and a half ago, Arrow would have lost it. He wouldn’t have been able to cope and would freak out. But because they had such a special journey together and shared so much space of healing and stability, Arrow was prepared for what was coming. Arrow was able to handle the disappearance of Orion because he found his own stability.

So in times when I expected Arrow to freak out and go into shock when Orion didn’t come home, he found his ground and stayed calm. He was anxious for a short minute and then came back down and into his healthy grieving process rather than a stressed and shocked state. And I cannot explain how HUGE this was for Arrow. Not to mention that he was actually the one supporting Orion for the last hours of his life. He has been so stable and grounded that he was able to help others with his energy, which is something he was never able to do for months. So it was a beautiful sight to see as he rested in his pen right next to Orion all night as Orion fought for his life. 

There is so much more I could share, like the energy shift that happened in the herd months before Orion’s passing to prepare for the change that none of us knew was coming. But that will be for another day. In the end, Arrow and Orion’s story will always be such a special one. I wish I could have been able to share it with the world earlier so you guys could truly grasp the change and healing process that took place between the two, but just know that it was life changing to witness. To see healing come from loyal companionship and to realize, first hand, the importance of a stable herd for rehabilitation horses – ones that are undergoing chronic stress within and just want to find rest. 

So at the end of the day, Arrow’s healing journey involved so many different components and healing modalities – energy and bodywork healing, consent based training, freedom, essential oil and herbal healing, balanced nutrition, a forage based diet, slow strength training plans, and so much more. But before any of those components and therapies could be effective, he needed to find healing from herd mates and companions of his own species. He needed wise and stable energy sources from other horses and the fulfillment of nature to give him the stability he needed before ANY of those therapies could support him at the core. 

So if you are trying to help your horse heal, whether this horse is a rescue case and suffered severe emotional or physical trauma, or just has some health issues to overcome, PLEASE start with providing your horse with a stable companion, environment, and herd if possible. If you want them to truly relax and be happy and healthy, they need to live in a species appropriate lifestyle in order to truly thrive and develop a healthy energy awareness and control from the roots in order to build a healthy foundation to stabilize everything else. After all, we always have to start with the foundation of building healthy roots or else our tree will fall down. And for horses, these roots are built from freedom, forage, and FRIENDS. Everything else comes flourishes after that.

The Author…