My Horse, My Mirror: How Horses Reflect Our Emotions

Have you ever asked yourself, What am I really feeling? Have your own thoughts felt so jumbled that you weren’t even sure if you were happy or sad? We often live thinking that our emotions must be stuffed out of sight. We promise ourselves that we’ll ‘deal’ with them later, but rarely do. And we’ve done it for so long that it has become difficult for us to decipher our own feelings anymore. Emotions are a God-given gift that should be embraced in a consistent and healthy way. It's true that we must control our emotions rather than be controlled by them. But we can’t actually be in control of something that we refuse to acknowledge.

Horses are instinctively in tune with emotions: their own, and those around them. In the wild, it's how they stay alive. If the lead horse feels fear at an approaching danger, the rest of the herd feels it, too. And when the leader calls for them to run, they are all poised and ready to escape. It’s their nature to mirror the surrounding emotions. A horse you are around begins to act anxious. Perhaps something has spooked it, or could it be that you yourself are dealing with anxiety? If you go to the barn while in a bad mood, you may notice the horses around you moving away, pawing or pinning their ears. They are reflecting the emotions they sense in you. 

Each horse will deal with and reflect the emotions around them in different ways. For instance, my horse, Dolly responds to the emotions around her in a medicinal manner. She is more of a ‘sponge’ with emotions. She soaks in what you feel, almost as though she’s pulling the nervousness out of you, leaving calm in its place. She’s done this for me and I’ve seen her do it for so many others. Climbing on her back, there is a shakiness, even a fear; by the time of dismount, there is only calm and joy. It’s a beautiful thing. While my horse, Reina, will fully mirror emotions. It took me longer to realize this than it should have. If I began to panic, she too would panic. If I got frustrated and afraid as she acted out, it only got worse. Not because she was being stubborn, but because she was mirroring me! Once I finally realized this (how did it take me so long?!) our training was dramatically changed. Rides became easier. Translating her reactions was a straight line to my emotions at that moment. At the same time it has forced me to be more aware of how I am feeling, not just when I ride her, but all throughout my day.

And that awareness has been transforming. And that's why equine therapy for mental health has become so incredibly successful. It's part of the healing journey for those with PTSD, for abuse survivors, for those struggling with depression, substance use, and more. And the benefits of equine therapy for mental health are nothing new. The therapeutic abilities of the horse were used as far back as 460 BC in the time of the ancient Greeks. Hippocrates, the Greek physician, even wrote about the therapeutic potential of horseback riding. He recommended 'horse treatment' for conditions from anxiety disorders to physical disabilities. We see the healing power of horses throughout history. And it continues to this day, in stables across the world.

This is another amazing way that the Lord uses horses to speak to us and transform us. Aren’t we so blessed to see and experience horses on this deep level? Day by day, they offer us their strength, their trust, and their hearts. And through these, they offer us back a part of our own hearts that we may have forgotten.

“Horses reflect our emotions, while at the same time, they seem to know how to give us exactly what we need to soothe our pain.”  ~ Barbra Schule