Anxiety, separation anxiety

I have been using the Equine Breathing technique on my herd of 4 horses for over a year now. The herd have become less anxious and amazingly have recovered from ailments I didn’t think were healable!

Kite was a severe 365 head shaker at rest and play, suffering breathing difficulties of RAO/COPD, painful muscles and weakness (including azoturia & chronic lameness problems), he always had a sensitive tummy and suffered weight issues and anxiety, he was later diagnosed with a heart murmur.

Amazingly completely without using drugs, Kite’s head shaking has improved 99% already, he no longer presents any symptoms of breathing difficulties, his weight has improved without extra feed and he is looking fabulous. Kite’s muscles have improved so much it’s a joy to see him have a jolly in the field now, his trot is beautiful! He still has healing to do and I’m so proud of him and his recovery so far. I hope one day the Equine Breathing training may even help his heart.

Chico was a very heavy breather with suspected COPD, he had very sore and twitchy muscles. Chico has made an incredible and quick recovery! His sore muscles went from very twitchy and tender, to very itchy. The itchiness from healing has now gone and he no longer has heavy breathing.

Elsie has a Heart arrhythmia, blind left eye (chronic keratitis) & early Cushings. I wasn’t expecting Elsie’s complex heart and eye related symptoms to heal, however, Elsie’s eye has improved dramatically and I am hoping the healing continues! Her arrhythmia had disappeared for a few months and her cushings symptoms have made so much progress including her coat shedding speed.

Finally Bella was another head shaker, she suffered problems with keeping weight on & high anxiety. Little Bella has gone from a high adrenaline pony, climbing over 5 bar gates, stable doors and 5ft fences to an easily managed cool pony staying behind standard 3ft high fence with zero problems. Her head shaking is almost non existent now and gaining weight is no longer an issue!

The learning process and herd recovery has been incredible! Thank you Clare and Equine Breathing for helping in ways I didn’t think were possible!

This is amazing! I have always focussed on harmony with my horses, but the leadership exercises together with the 1N breathing give me a much deeper and calmer feeling of total oneness with the horse.

I am using this for all the horses here and I can see results already. One fidgety, bitey type horse is still and relaxed and non-biting already. The headshaking mare is starting to enjoy the 1N a little more now. Another mare that would lose focus every time a bird chirped is calmer and more focussed.

Thank you so much for your lifework. It is very exciting.

The difference in my anxious, nippy, PRE rescue (horse) with 10 days of Equine Breathing is amazing. He is so much calmer and more confident, both with me and with the other 2 horses. and the nipping has almost disappeared. The change really is remarkable and I am thrilled.

I am much more careful about my breathing as well, and feel as if my lungs are 2 sizes bigger - all work and walks now done with a firmly closed mouth! And it is so interesting that closed mouth breathing, even when really working hard, leaves you feeling calm, while mouth breathing, even with big gulps of air just leaves you feeling breathless in comparison.

EB is such an simple technique, I must admit I was doubtful when I started but I am a complete convert now. I would recommend EB to anyone!

Thanks for your prompt reply. My horse started with a snotty nose 10 days ago - no temp - does not look or act ill - but also a minor cough with it. I soak all hay and haylage - all I can think of at the moment is that there is v little grass on the winter grazing and it has been v dry - therefore lots of mud. He is a little better with anti histamines but thought there could be a better way forward. Have been practising the 1N method according to the video on your website. Has a v dramatic affect on lowering his adrenalin levels - have another pony and have started it on him too. Both relax have a sneeze occasionally and seem to have less snot!!! Always a good thing. Now I just need to learn how to breathe properly!!! I definitely over breathe. Just done 40 mins long lining my boy and tried to keep my mouth closed - out of breathe very quickly. Looking forward to seeing the results in my boys and myself. Need to find the time to get it rolling for me - as usual I come last. Shouldnt cause if I dont get it right then they will just continue to mimic me!!!  PS Have just mucked out both stables with my mouth shut and dont feel as tired.

Thanks

Puzzle has recently arrived on my yard and with more than a few issues!!! Puzzle is a delightful 16.1 chestnut wbxtb type and he told me in no uncertain terms from the very beginning that life made him pretty anxious. I left him with the herd for about 2 weeks to chill and make friends and then began very gentle groundwork with him (he has been backed but no one has been on him for 3 years) To begin with everything made him scared, cross or both but we took it all slowly. We were in the round pen and he wasn't listening and his energy levels were sky high when I suddenly thought of you.  We quietly began 1N and after a short while his breathing relaxed. We both stood there enjoying our moment together and by the end of it his head was lowered and he was the most relaxed I'd seen him.  Now we regularly have a little bit of this special time together and I'm convinced he looks forward to it. (I know I do :-) . So thank you from Puzzle and myself for showing him how to breath again.

Trudi decided to use Equine Breathing to help her 14 year old Thoroughbred PJ. Trudi bought PJ (an ex racehorse) 12 weeks ago and is very pleased with him overall but found he had one problem - separation anxiety - as she explains below. 

The only problem I have with him is that when I take his paddock buddy out for a ride without him he gets very stressed. This can range from running the fence line and just getting lathered up while neighing out loudly (think screaming!!) to just standing at the gate and singing out a little bit. At the moment I put him in a small yard and give him a little feed to try to distract him but it doesn’t have the effect I would like ie: that he puts his head down and just eats. At the moment I go out for no more than 10 minutes and then back again, I have tried coming and going but that just seems to escalate the situation." ..."I did the 1N technique for the first time last night and was impressed with the change in him just in that short time.  I did two sessions of 5 minutes on each nostril and then when I took him back to the paddock his buddy nickered out (Oakey doesn’t suffer from any anxiety about being left behind and it is rare for him to even say hello like that), normally PJ would light up a little in the sense that his ears would come forward and he would look at Oakey but this time he just marched along beside me with his head well below his wither height and this lovely relaxed look in his eye. I also noticed that at the end of the second 10 minutes I could get him to lower his head almost to the ground which is something that just wasn’t possible before, he always seemed to get so far down then he would pull his head right up as if he felt much safer with it high (which of course he would). A pleasant result, so far. I will keep it up and look forward to a generally more relaxed calm horse.

Update 2 weeks later; "Yesterday (and the day before) I managed to do 30 minutes 1N with him and then took Oakey for a little walk, PJ didn't make a sound and when I came back I could barely wake him as he rested at the gate!! He didn't greet Oakey as he normally does when he comes back into view or anything. Quite amazing!"