Horseplay

May the wind in 'ye face never be the wind from thine tail. November 2017 was when I took my first course through Healing Touch for Animals (HTA). It was a great experience and I further fell in love with Healing Touch. Animals are the best to work with, are so appreciative and full of surprises!
 
Day one consisted of learning and practicing HTA techniques on small animals. We worked with dogs for the class. There were several students whom brought their own dogs with them. There were about half of us that did not bring our dogs with to the training day. The instructor did bring in three dogs from a rescue for those of us that did not have a dog with to work on. This was great and worked out well. These precious dogs needed the work and attention. The rescue dogs had lived many years in a small cage in a puppy mill. Their stories broke my heart. The blessing of it all, they were free from the pain, the hurt, and would go on to live amazing lives with their new homes in the future. On top of that, we were blessed to be able to work on them, to give back to these dogs whom spent years never knowing what being touched by a human really felt like.
 
It was amazing watching the dogs as they piled into the basement of a church in Minneapolis. There were several older, arthritic dogs that the students brought with them, that had slight limps, aches and pains visible with the human eye.  The shelter dogs were nervous. As we progressed through the morning and different techniques, the dogs continued to settle more. By the end of the day, all of the dogs were so calm and relaxed. The dogs were sprawled on the floor, like a puddle of goo. At the end of the day, the elderly, arthritic dogs were running, playing and acting like puppies again. No more limping, no more signs of pain. The shelter dogs were calm and relaxed. One of the rescue dogs even ended up being adopted by one of the students a few weeks later. Complete happy ending, a new beginning.
 
Day two consisted of learning and practicing the HTA techniques on large animals. We worked with horses for the class. We went to a horse rescue ranch outside of Minneapolis, in Afton called Red Jack Ranch. There were several horses we could work on, and a few whom were used to HTA work, as they had been worked on in previous classes in the past.
 
During the day, the instructor and coordinator were demonstrating a technique on a horse named Raydee, whom had never experienced HTA work before. When Raydee was led into the arena by the instructor, she limped into the arena. She was dragging at least one of her hoofs in the front.  As the instructor and coordinator were demonstrating the technique, Raydee started to shift, and move her legs quite a bit. I started to become a little nervous, being the horse novice, and a little fearful of horses as they are huge animals. Raydee started to pass lots of gas and shifting around in circles. As she is doing this, I was standing next to two students, one a veterinarian, and the other with lots of horse experience. I saw both of them duck, as I did not and continued to watch on in awe. I was struck! While Raydee was shifting around and passing gas, Raydee sharted!!!! Yes! You read that right! She farted and pooped and it came shooting out of her back end like a cannon! As I looked down on my gray sweatshirt, there upon my bosom were two spots of hot, wet, juicy, steaming horse poop! It was November, so it was a little cold in the arena, and I still swear to this day, I saw steam coming off of the poop as it flung threw the air and struck me!
 
So, at this point, the instructor has asked all of us to leave and go into the entryway of the arena so she could let go of the lead and allow the horse to be free to do what she needed to do. I was already over at the food table by the entrance, grabbing napkins and a pile of hand sanitizer to wash off my sweatshirt. The students began to pile into the doorway, and I was not far behind, at least not the last one to make it over there. We all witnessed the miracle together. As soon as Raydee’s lead was let go, she bolted across the arena. She ran to the other side of the arena, and started to neigh, gallop, and kick her back end in the air, jumping around like a playful young horse. Though Raydee was not a young horse, she was very much an older, mature horse. This is an equivalent of seeing your 80-year-old Grandma break dance at a wedding. After 10 minutes or so, it was over. She had shifted all of that old energy, pain, hurt, trauma and whatever else out of her body. The instructor walked over to her, grabbed her lead, and led her quietly out of the arena. She walked without a limp, and when she was released back with the herd of horses in the pasture, she ran and ran like she had not done, likely in a very long time.
 
Afterwards, we debriefed the amazing situation we had all witnessed. It is important to note, this type of event I am describing does not happen normally at HTA classes. This was not a usual occurrence. Though many awesome, amazing and wonderful things are witnessed while doing HTA work at the ranch, this specific event had not occurred before with this instructor in all the years she had done HTA classes. As we were talking about the situation we had just experienced, someone asked why I had such a large wet spot on my upper chest area. There was a large grapefruit size wet stain on my sweatshirt, because I had put hand sanitizer on it to clean off the fresh horse poop. Then someone stated that dried horse poop from the arena was not such a big deal. It was then everyone who had missed it (remember there was me and just the two other students that were right by me) found out it wasn’t old, dried poop from the ground that had been flung on me, but rather, hot, wet, fresh, steaming poop, straight from the fanny of the horse. We all had a very good laugh. I then admitted that the two spots of poop were dime and quarter size big and I may have overdone the hand sanitizer to clean it off.
 
It is important to note, we did review horse safety rules at the beginning of the day, and we were told we would be kept safe at all times. Throughout the entire day, and the entire weekend, our safety was never compromised, and we kept out of harm’s way the entire time. Though we were always safe, remember when I said I was a horse novice, and little fearful of horses due to my inexperience, and their big energy? Well, it didn’t bother me that I had fresh horse dung flung onto me. I am a nurse. I have had more human bodily fluids flung and put upon me than I care to admit. Animal feces and such do not bother me. At the time, I was a little scared, and in order to take my mind off the horse, I focused on the poop on my sweatshirt. I do realize there was never any real logical reason to be fearful, but I suppose we can apply that to many of our fears.
 
Afterwards, I continued on with the day. We did HTA techniques on the horses and had a marvelous time. I did a full treatment session with my small group on a wonderful horse named Frank, whom I still hold love for to this day. The horses at the Red Jack Ranch are so amazing and we are fortunate enough to have a place to conduct the Healing Touch Animals classes.
 
This past weekend, June 22nd to 24th, I was able to make the trip to Minneapolis and complete Healing Touch for Animals Level 2. I knew what to expect, as we had the same instructor, coordinator, and were going to be stationed at the same locations as last time in November. Friday evening we met at the Hope Lutheran Church and did a lecture and review. Saturday we spent the day at Hope Lutheran Church doing the small animal day, so we worked on dogs. Six of the students brought their own dogs, and they were the most well behaved dogs the entire day from start to finish. It was amazing to see how the dogs responded to the techniques and the work throughout the day. I am so thankful for my classmates bringing a dog, since I would not be able to make the trip that far with my own.
 
Sunday, June 24th, we were again stationed out at Red Jack Ranch in Afton. I knew several of my classmates, as I had taken Healing Touch for Animals Level 1 with them last fall, or had taken Healing Touch for humans courses with them in the past. All had already heard my “poop” story, as we got that out of the way right away Friday night. I can tell you, I have been the “butt” of the joke since last November. But if you know me, you know I am a jokster, and I can take it well. Humor is the name of my game.
 
We started out the morning reviewing some horse handling skills, and the instructor demonstrated some techniques we had learned the previous day. Then they brought in three horses for us to work in three small groups. Going into this, the instructor and coordinator already knew, I was a horse novice, and could be a little fearful of horses. They had a special horse for the novice group, two of us were excited to be in it, and a third joined our group. We even had one of the ranch handlers with us holding the lead of the horse as each group would have an experienced horse handler. The handler told me this horses’ name was Ruby, she was an older “funky” horse. When I asked her what “funky” meant, she said she meant the horse was the Matron of the heard, she had recently lost her male partner as he had died. She was an older horse, had some slight limping issues in one of the upper legs.
 
I looked at Ruby, and she was beautiful. She stood waiting to be worked on by the three of us. We started the techniques, and I felt an instant connection with her. Like I knew her, her energy felt familiar. She looked familiar to me, like I had seen her before. Of course, I am not very good yet at distinguishing horses, so looking into a pasture, most of them look the same to me if they are similar in colors. As I was working with the other two students in my group on this amazing horse, the instructor walks by and asks how “Raydee” feels today. I said, “No, you mean Ruby.” The instructor said that Ruby was the horse across the room, and this horse, the one I was standing up against, holding my hands on, was in fact, Raydee! The handler said she thought she had Ruby, and apologized for telling us the wrong name. I looked at Raydee as I was working on her. She was a completely different horse than the one we saw last November. She had been worked on in HTA classes since November, and she has been instrumental in teaching the students about energy work. I had it in my mind before I had started the class that I likely would not work on Raydee, but that I would keep an open mind, as I always try to do should the opportunity come up. I find when I leave my mind open to possibilities, I am often blown away when it ends up being out of this world!
 
Raydee was absolutely amazing! I am so glad I was able to do HTA work on her. The instructor knew Raydee and I would be the perfect match, and she knew Raydee had developed so much after receiving HTA work many times since her first time last November. The three of us in the group worked beautifully on her, and what we witnessed while completing the HTA techniques on Raydee was nothing short of a miracle. Seriously! During the session, Raydee even put her head by me, as if trying to hug me. I cried a couple times during the session, though I was not the only one. I usually try to be tough and not cry these days, but I could feel the release Raydee experienced, and I couldn’t stop the waterworks. We all felt a bond between the three of us students, and the horse Raydee after we completed that first session on Sunday. After the session was completed, I asked the handler if we could take pictures with Raydee, and she said absolutely. Even at this moment while I type this, I am crying. I can still feel the love and how much we changed Raydee’s life.

We worked on several other horses this weekend at the ranch, and we all experienced different life-changing events while completing the HTA work. All of the horses were exceptionally great, behaved wonderful and truly loved receiving the HTA energy work. I worked on and met many different horses on Sunday, and I am blessed to say I was never once fearful at any point. I am slowly getting over my fear of horses the more I work with them, and I know they are gifted beings that have so much to give and teach us here on earth.
 
The main reason I am writing all of this, is to show you, through my story telling, how amazing Healing Touch for Animals work really is and how much of an impact it makes on all animals. I cannot say enough, how much I highly recommend anyone to go through the Healing Touch for Animals courses. People from all walks of life attend the classes, those with experience with animals, those who do not, those whom own pets, those whom do not, all different ages of adults, it doesn’t matter, it truly is for anyone.
 
If you are lucky enough to go to the classes in Minnesota with Melissa Hansen, you will see how much, heart, dedication and soul Melissa truly has for animals, and the work she does through Healing Touch for Animals. The joke usually told is, Melissa was born on a horse, as she knows so much about them. Melissa without a doubt is an amazing horse handler and gives 100 percent to the class each time. Lauri Wollner is the coordinator for the classes in Minnesota, and she is truly a rock star! Lauri is a legend in working with animals! I promise, if you give Healing Touch for Animals Level 1 a chance, you will be hooked! I have been hooked since HTA Level 1, and I am excited to continue on through the classes.
 
I can say without a doubt, I am a totally different person today than I was when I left my house a few days ago on Friday morning. Every experience with HTA and completing the work raises me to a whole new level. I am so grateful for all the awesome people in my life, and the bonds I have created.
 
Sending you and all animals lots of love,
Jadie Winters

If you are interested to learn more about Healing Touch for Animals, check out my link below:

Healing Touch for Animals Website