My holistic work at Remus by Caroline Thomas

I have been a holistic therapist at Remus Horse Sanctuary for many years, giving my time and holistic input for free to help, the beautiful animals there. I have been asked to write a blog about the work that I do, to tell you about the ‘holistic side’ of Remus. The reason that the Remus animals live to such ripe old ages is because Remus is made up of many parts; Vet care, diet specialists, dental specialists, hoof specialists and holistic specialists. I am one of the 3 holistic specialists that Remus works with regularly and I am delighted to now be able to share some of my experiences with you.

Arriving at Remus, I met with Sue and we discussed which Animals needed some holistic care for today. It had been a difficult night for Chester, Sue also had a 3rd year Vet student, who she wanted me to show her what holistic care means at Remus. Entering the field, I found Chester, who watched us as we moved towards him. I explained to the student, that I had not met him before, so was not going to make him feel uncomfortable by moving too close to him. Horses are prey animals, so are very often wary of new people.

The ethos at Remus is that their animals are treated with respect and where possible have a choice and this is the same for their healing too. As a Reiki practitioner it is up to me to offer out a reiki space of healing, should they choose to enter and not to force healing onto them. Yes ‘force’! By placing my hands all over Chester I would for one not be respecting his need for space and choice and also by placing my hands all over a ‘prey’ animal who I have never met before can cause a lot of un-necessary stress. Standing at a distance, I placed one hand on the students shoulder and with the other I placed by my side.

Reiki is a healing energy which helps make animals feel relaxed and chilled and often gives them the space to heal. It is 100% safe and animals love it. I offered reiki into an area between Chester and myself and stood quietly with no expectation as to what Chester would do. Bit by bit Chester moved into this space and stood for a few minutes and then moved off to another part of the field.

It was all very subtle and as I explained to the student, that Chester had been in charge of his own healing and for me I just facilitated this opportunity, should he wish to take it. By placing my hand on her shoulder, she was able to experience reiki first hand. She felt very dreamy and relaxed and could feel and understand what Chester had felt too.

Holistic care at Remus is all about allowing the animals to have choice and therapists to have no ‘ego’

Caroline Thomas