BIOPHILE 16 — JUNE/JULY 2007 R25 - Biophile Magazine

Horses reconnecting humanitywith a human consciousnessby Vanessa Malvicini, Apaloosa Horse FarmIt was very hot that day in May, and I was sitting undersome mesquite trees in Tucson, Arizona. I was attendinga one week workshop in Equine Facilitated ExperientialLearning, by Linda Kohanov, author of Riding Between theWorlds and The Tao of Equus. A breeze was caressing my hair,and behind me there was a round pen, with a horse namedCali inside.At Epona Equine Services, this is the name of the school,they sometimes rescue a horse and allow this four legged beingto find his character and spirit again.But this horse was somehow struggling to decide what hewanted to do, and got into a transition phase where he sometimeswould not eat, and be depressed. As I was fully presentin my body, just listening and observing what was aroundme, I started to receive some messages. At first I did notunderstand whether my mind was busy creatingthem, or whether someoneelse was sending them tome, but no two legged was around . At first I heard: “ What areyou doing here? You have nothing to look for here, go backhome”. This was a very weird message to receive, consideringthat it was the very first time I was at that place, and that Ihad been travelling for more than 36 hours to get there fromCape Town, South Africa! And then I suddenly started to cry,and the tears were not of sadness or grief, it was a differentsensation. I did not understand it, so I decided to ask thehorse, what that could have meant. He very gently comfortedme and replied: ”I am attuning you to the universal song ofthe horses”.During the workshop, I got very interested in exploringthe potential of horse/human relationships, and started theEpona apprenticeship program lead by Linda Kohanov andKathleen Barry Ingram. Since that day my life has completelychanged, although not on the outside. What I mean is that Istarted to reclaim my own character and spirit whichhad been taken away from me when I was a child.My parents, from catholic Italian families,did not know better. As it oftenhappens in western cultures, verylittle importance is given to thespiritual side, and I am nottalking here aboutreligion. I had neverbeen taught to• Equine FacilitatedExperiential Learning• Stone Medicine Ceremony• Emotional, Energeticand Spiritual Healing• Intuitive Life Coachingwww.icavalli.co.zaAppaloosa Horse Farm, KatzenellenbogenNoordhoek, Cape TownT 021 789 1395 Cell 073 221 51 7248 Biophile Issue 16