Red Roan Reiki, Energy Bodywork, and Animal Communication

10/30/2025

🌿 From Science to Soul – Day 3: Doing Nothing Is an Action

“Doing nothing” sounds easy, doesn’t it? But in the horse world, it might be one of the hardest things we do.

At the clinic, Warwick’s idea of groundwork for connection stopped me in my tracks. He wasn’t sending the horse out to lunge, micromanaging every turn, or testing obedience with endless cues. There were no inside turns, outside turns, or drills for precision. He just… stood there.

If the horse wanted to touch him, he let it.
If it looked away, he let it.
If it stood still, he stood still.

And slowly — almost imperceptibly — those dysregulated, busy horses began to breathe. You could see them soften. The energy in their bodies shifted from tension to peace, and it all began with a human who simply stood in grounded awareness and did less.

I realised that “doing nothing” wasn’t passive. It was deeply active presence — the kind that allows another nervous system to co-regulate with yours.

In my own work, I’ve been trained to do — to teach the stop, the go, the turn, the yield. It’s the science of shaping behaviour. But Warwick reminded me that connection starts where the doing stops. Sometimes the best groundwork session is simply standing still together.

Now, when I go into the arena, I’m learning to ask myself:

“Am I doing this to connect, or to perform?”

Because when we release the need to make something happen, connection happens on its own.

Tomorrow: Day 4 – Rupture and Repair – Rebuilding Trust Without Control.

10/29/2025

10/22/2025

10/19/2025

We tried a new turnout at the barn today:) Skip obliged by bringing himself back to their “home base” while I led Persis ahead of him ❤️

10/18/2025

“I’ll Let Them…”

✨ A Reflection on Language, Power, and True Autonomy

I’ve noticed a phrase that slips easily into conversations among even the most well-intentioned horse guardians.
“I’ll let them rest.”
“I’ll let them choose whether they want to be ridden today.”
“I let my horse decide when we’re done.”

On the surface, it sounds kind—progressive, even. It acknowledges the horse’s preferences, right?

But when I sit with it… something doesn’t feel quite right.

“Let them” still centers me as the one in control.
It implies the horse’s freedom is conditional—granted or withheld based on my mood, my goals, my sense of what’s reasonable.

And here’s the hard truth:
If I’m the one letting them, they were never truly free to begin with.

This is the language of hierarchy, not partnership.
It’s the language of colonizers, of slaveholders, of systems built on control.

—
“I’ll let them rest.”
What if they were never meant to earn rest in the first place?

“I’ll let them choose.”
What if they had the right to choose all along?

—
This isn’t about being dramatic. It’s about being honest.

Horses didn’t volunteer for the systems we created. They didn’t ask to be bred for our goals, confined for our convenience, or trained for our enjoyment. And even when we try to do better—even when we soften the methods, take the pressure off, offer more choice—if we’re still the ones “letting” them, we haven’t fully stepped out of the old paradigm.

If we’re serious about Autonomous Horsemanship…
If we’re sincere about co-creating a world working toward mutual consent…
We must confront the shadows still hiding in our words.
Because language reveals beliefs—and beliefs guide behavior.

What would change if we stopped seeing ourselves as benevolent gatekeepers of our horses’ freedoms?

What if rest was a given, not a gift?

What if choice didn’t have to be earned?

What if instead of “letting” our horses do something, we simply listened, honored, and adapted?

—
These questions are not meant to shame. They’re meant to liberate.
Not just our horses, but ourselves—from outdated roles we never truly wanted to play.

Let’s move from power over to power with.

Let’s build relationships rooted in presence, respect, and reciprocity.

Let’s stop “letting”… and start listening.

Learn more at https://stormymay.com

🌿

10/16/2025

Acupressure helps to keep whole systems of the horse healthy! (humans too!)

Send a message to learn more

10/14/2025

These posts speak to me so much - are so beautiful ❤️ We can all be in awe of the beings that horses are and offer them the utmost respect ❤️

What I Choose Isn’t Nothing

When I’m not being “used,” people think I’m doing nothing.

But I’m grazing…
Watching the wind ripple through the grass…
Listening to birds call from the trees…
Feeling the sun on my back and the earth beneath my hooves.

I’m remembering how to be a horse.

Not a tool.
Not a project.
Not a means to an end.

Just a being.
Breathing.
Alive.
Whole.

That’s not nothing.

That’s everything.

🌱 When we let go of needing horses to do something, we start to see who they are.

10/13/2025

Today I felt a wave of reflection… about the horses who lived through my learning curve.

They didn’t stay with me because they had the choice.
There were ropes, bridles, halters and fences—expectations.
There were times I led them without asking, touched them without listening,
and taught them what I had been taught.

They didn’t get to walk away when I did harmful things.
And that’s what humbles me the most.

I used to believe I was being kind.
And in many ways, I was doing my best.
But now I see how often doing my best still meant asking too much…
still meant silencing what they were trying to show me.

Most stood through it.
They bore it quietly.
They adapted—not because it was easy, but because it was safer to comply.

And still, they gave moments of softness.
A look. A breath. A leaning in.
Moments that taught me more than any lesson I ever tried to teach them.

I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
But now that I do… everything has changed.

I listen more now.
I question more.
And I honor every horse I meet as a being with their own life—not an extension of mine.

So this is for those horses, past and present.
You endured more than I saw at the time.
You lived through my becoming.

I owe you everything.

And I hope that now, in this quieter chapter,
I am someone worthy of standing beside you—without asking you to carry me.

With reverence,
🌿 Stormy

10/10/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Gb3MaoZnB/

This.

10/07/2025

One of many sad things I saw in my career...
⠀
I was judging at the Pony Club Championships—the Games division—at the prestigious Kentucky Horse Park. One of the competitors brought their pony over. Something was wrong.
⠀
The pony was bleeding from the mouth.
Not just a nick or a scratch.
A dark purple bruise spread across its tongue. Blood seeped from the edges. Obviously from the bit.
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I told the rider they couldn’t compete with a bit—not with an injury like that. And certainly not during Championships. The mouth needed time to heal, which clearly wouldn’t happen that week.
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The child looked heartbroken. I understood. They’d trained so hard. But all I could think about was the pony.
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And I wondered:
How many other mouths were hurting right now—without anyone noticing?
How many ponies had learned to carry pain quietly, to keep going, to not ruin the rider’s day?
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Not all trauma looks like bleeding, bucking or biting.
Some of it looks like stillness.
Like compliance.
Like a spark that’s gone dim.
⠀
That moment changed something in me.
I couldn’t unsee it.
⠀
And now, I share stories like this not to shame—but to wake us up.
Because if we love horses, we have to look deeper.
We have to be willing to ask hard questions, even when it challenges everything we’ve been taught.
⠀
✨ What if the bravest thing we can do is to see the quiet suffering—and choose a gentler way forward?
⠀
If this resonates with you, share it.
Let the conversation grow.
Let curiosity replace conditioning.
Let compassion lead.

Explore more at stormymay.com
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