THE HORSE LISTENER
The Essence of New Zealand’s Spirit Horse Festival The third International New Zealand Spirit Horse Festival showcased alternative modalities from around the world, writes CANDIDA BAKER, who presented on horse rescue and essential oils.
H
orses. Everywhere. Not, as you might imagine, as at a traditional horse show, with riders, and events and the tensions of competition, and the blaring and constant announcements. No, these horses at Dune Lakes Lodge, are simply ‘there’. They come to the presentations, and we go into the herd for sessions, they’re present during a Grandmother’s Haka, for a Medicine Walk with Rob Pliskin, and during ancestral connection sessions with Judy Brightman, and for demonstrations in all forms of equine-guided learning. The presence of this herd is made up mainly of large Warmbloods, gentle, kind, and imbued it seems, with an understanding of why we are all there. Which, to try and put it in a nutshell is to understand horses at a level beyond the obvious. Rosemary Wyndham-Jones, (featured in December’s HorseVibes) and the organizers of the Festival which is presented by the charity Equine
26
Pathfinders, have created a unique event where people can come and learn more about horses as sentient beings who can teach us as much as we can teach them. Arriving at Dune Lakes Lodge, Rosemary’s property, a few days before the Festival started, I was greeted by the two elderly ‘guardians’ of the property, 32-year-old Bailey, and 34-year-old Mary. When Rosemary moved from the UK to New Zealand some years ago it was Mary, and her daughter Jodie that she brought with her. Sadly, Jodie died a few years ago, but Mary, grandmother to many of the Dune Lake Horses and Bailey have free access to the garden and the property, with regular appointments outside the feed shed. Presenting my work with essential oils was deeply rewarding. We chose four horses on the first day for me to work with, and I showed attendees at the session how to simply ‘offer’ the oil to a horse, so that they can choose to take it or not. Marjoram, which is always the
HORSEVIBES MAGAZINE - MARCH 2019
A
