The techniques used in ESCT are intuitive and straightforward. We can go into analysis paralysis and explain the biochemical and quantum physics theories underpinning bilateral brain integration and the fear cycle’s chemistry, but the truth are – all you need is your hands to make ESCT work.
Hands are used in the eye movement, which is horizontal, vertical, peripheral and, if needed, at a distance. Human therapy professionals will argue that you can’t give a horse eye movement therapy because he can’t track the hand like ping pong ball, but years of practice and all the horses have shown me that all they need is the interrupt signal provided by the hand moving into and out of their field of vision. When frontally given, they lose the hand movement momentarily between their eyes and then pick it up again.
Hands, or more specifically, fingers, are used in the bilateral body tapping protocol of ESCT and this mimics what the eye does through the optic nerve, only this time the electric signal is sent through the bony structure of the skeleton to the horse’s brain, first on the left side, then on the right.
Supporting the use of your hands, of course, are other factors. But they don’t need to be purchased in a store, either. You already have them – knowledge of the horse and its problems, your intention to heal, your understanding of the choreography involved in ESCT that is a sequence of tensions and releases, and the ability to read the horse from deep relaxation to hyper vigilance. These factors are living in your mind, in virtual reality, until you manifest them in the horse through the use of your hands. They cannot be taught, only acquired with practice. This is where your intuition and instinct come into play and they are the true test of your knowledge of horses.
Your hands transmit signals to the horse that are greater and more involved than mere tapping. Your hands tell the horse who you are through your rhythm in front of or at the side of its head, the touch you give on its bones, and the relaxation or lack thereof in your wrist and arm. Your hands tell him how the rest of your body is from moment to moment, so while your hands are the tool, your body is the fulcrum from which the tool is suspended. It needs to be calm and relaxed, too.
Of course, if your horse is so bothered that he cannot be touched by the hand at the outset, you can always use the gripping end of a whip to move across his field of vision or to tap on his body. As he settles into ESCT, you shorten your grip as the therapy progresses, eventually touching him with your hand. Keep the non-working hand off the horse while administering ESCT so as not to send him double energy signals.
