EQUINE STRESS CONTROL THERAPY(ESCT)
The book of horse healing secrets
using the world’s first equine psychotherapy
by
Barbara Wright
Equine Stress Control Therapist
Setting the Stage
"...excellence in horsemanship rests on a foundation of enduring love and respect for horses and reverence for the life they represent. These bulwarks of riding originate not from the intellect but, as with genuine friendship, they are an outpouring of the human heart. It is this which fosters in us a deep sense of moral obligation for horses' well-being, and spurs us on in search for an ever deeper understanding, a whole-hearted effort to find living harmony with them.
Indeed, harmony is an indispensable element of the classical ideal. It is a symptom of resolved, lived truth - lawfulness in action - exemplified by spiritual, mental and physical unity by which excellence in horsemanship can always be confidently measured. Harmony is built especially on a foundation of loyalty and trust and, secondarily, on the development of physical dexterity and suitable technicalities."
Erik Herbermann
"Establishing Equestrian Ideals"
Dressage Today, May 2003
Dedication
The horses in our lives are often our best teachers. The Harmony HorseWorks horses certainly have been mine. Any self-actualization or elevation in consciousness and awareness achieved in the last decade, I attribute directly to my experience with the horses at the Harmony HorseWorks sanctuary. Their equine spirit and behavior have taught me that the secrets of life are all within. We do not need to search outside ourselves for answers to our problems. We do not need to gain more knowledge or information. We need to shed outdated points of view and shift our perspective. Being in their presence has given me that paradigm shift. It has grounded me. Watching them flourish and emerge from past lives that would have killed most humans has made me grow a larger heart. Having to euthanize some, I realize that being by the side of a dying horse is a great privilege and a soul-enhancing experience.
There are more than 120,000 unwanted horses in American who face death from neglect, abuse, disease and lack of finances. The volunteers at Harmony HorseWorks manage to help a few each year. This book is lovingly dedicated to the horses we cannot reach.
Barbara Wright, Conifer, Colorado, February 2008.
Disclaimer
Equine Stress Control Therapy (ESCT) is not equine EMDR. We want to make this clear from the outsent because the EMDR Institute in New York has cautioned us that the use of EMDR in connection with anything other than humans is not permitted by them. ESCT is bilateral body tapping and bilateral eye movement therapy for the horse and it is based on bilateral brain integration and energy psychology techniques.
Safety
Working with horses is an inherently dangerous endeavor. You do so at your own risk. Barbara Wright and Harmony HorseWorks cannot be held responsible for any accident or injury befalling you in your work with horses using ESCT. We make an effort to explain the safety procedures and risks involved in ESCT to the best of our ability. We suggest you wear hard-soled shoes, a helmet and that you check your equipment. Have someone work with you. Be safe. The rest is up to you.
Horse Statistics
Source: 2005 US Equine Economic Impact Study
Walking Horse Journal – September, 2006
9.2 million horses in America
100,000 unwanted horses in America
Cost of keeping unwanted horses alive - $125 million
1-2 percent of 9.2 million slaughtered each year for meat in past 10 years
4.7 million people in horse industry
1.8 million of the 4.7 million are horse owners
Expenses for all segments of horse industry in USA exceeds revenue by 240%!
Cost of one horse for one year with vet and farrier is $1,825
(We estimate the above cost to be $2,500)
The finances of taking care of horses are difficult even for the well-off to manage. The numbers are telling too in that several hundred thousand are either cast-off or slaughtered for sale to overseas meat markets. Overall, however, America takes better care of its horses than most countries, something that becomes clearly evident when one travels to a third-world country and sees the state of the horse there.
Your horse is lucky because you are reading this book and that means you are deeply involved in his welfare. The tens of thousands misunderstood “spooks” out there not being helped by enlightened people are a tragic loss to all of us.
Buddha and the Snake
An animal fable by Barbara Wright
In answer to the oft-asked question,
“Who invented bilateral eye movement therapy?”
Wanting to reach enlightenment in this lifetime, the snake was distraught knowing it would not reach its goal since it had to frighten and kill its prey each time it wanted to eat. The terror it struck in the hearts of its victim was awful even for the snake to behold. Not knowing how to fix this predicament, the snake went to Buddha and explained its plight.
Buddha had to commiserate with the snake and meditated on the matter for some time. As the snake waited in Buddha’s calm presence, it was even more focused on reaching enlightenment in this lifetime as Buddha radiated a blessed promise of Oneness. Finally, Buddha awakened from his meditation and told the snake he had a solution.
Buddha fashioned a retractable hood around the snake’s head with a double eye design on the back. He told the snake to rise up and unfold this hood as it prepared to strike and kill its prey and to move its head from side to side rhythmically at the same time. The snake was puzzled and asked how this would help. Buddha replied that the hypnotic effect of rising up with the hood spread out and swaying the head back and forth would mesmerize the prey and lull it into peacefulness just before death. This would make death easy instead of terrifying. The prey would be hypnotized just before leaving the material world and the snake would be absolved of any guilt for inflicting a painful death on its prey.
Pleased with his new head gear but skeptical of Buddha’s predicted results, the snake tested its new swaying technique on the first mouse it met. Sure enough, the mouse stopped dead in its tracks, sat on its hind legs and watched as the snake swayed gently back and forth from side to side. When the mouse closed its eyes as if to fall asleep, the snake struck. And yes, the snake did reach enlightenment in that lifetime and became the Sacred Cobra, a symbol of protection in the Buddhist tradition.
That is how bilateral eye movement therapy was born.
MORAL: Nothing is new. Nothing is invented. All is. The universe expresses itself in energy and information. More than that, it expresses itself in energy, information and intelligence.
TO READ ALL OF CHAPTER ONE, GO TO:
www.harmonyhorseworks.com/PDF/Chapter1.pdf
TO READ ALL OF CHAPTER TWO, GO TO:
www.harmonyhorseworks.com/PDF/Chapter2.pdf
