Life is not always an easy thing to navigate.
Stresses, loss, past traumas can take its toll on us and our individual electromagnetic field which surrounds our being and gives off energy, an energy which horses can intuitively read. Luraina Oddy owner and facilitator at Heart and Soul Medicine Horse in Brisco, B.C. offers a myriad of services such as Chakra Balancing and Reiki on both people and equine, and sessions where the horse leads the way on one’s healing journey. The most important role of the client is to be less in their head and more in their heart space.
“Any animal has the ability to touch our hearts, because they communicate through our heart space,” said Oddy.
“If we have the understanding that we’re not just all thinking with our logistic brains, and that we have three brains in our body that function, and our heart brain is where we communicate with animals. For instance, horses are a prey animal which make them rely on intuition. Unlike a dog that loves internally and unconditionally, a horse will read your intuition. Horses will read our heart space and if we aren’t being congruent with our hearts and are too much in our head, the horse reflects, so energetically with the horse you can see right away when you go into your logical brain versus your heart. For us to heal past wounds and traumas we need to heal it in our heart space not our head space, which is why horses are beginning to get a reputation as being great healers.”
Oddy shares there is a lot to learn on how energy works and that there are different stages she can take her clients through if they feel disconnected to their intuition. Horses act like a mirror reflecting us emotionally so the journey is different for everyone, for some a session may be about making that initial heart connection as without it, the horse will not engage. Energetic games are played with clients, and they do the self-exploratory learning.
“Whatever we’re feeling on the inside, it shows with how horses are reacting, so you really can’t get away from it. It makes you process that, and pay attention, and watch”, said Oddy. “It’s just something you process in your head, and I as the facilitator will guide the client with some questions if they are feeling stuck, but the horses are the teachers. Its relying 100 per cent on the horses to bring up what they need to bring up, for the client to clear energy.”
Oddy had always had a love for horses and dreamed of owning one, at ten her dream fleetingly came true as she experienced the thrill of caring for a colt for the first and a short time, which she named Tango. Growing up Oddy would visit her aunt, and uncle who own Spur Valley annually, falling in love more with the area with every visit.
“I’ve had a love for horses, since I was little, a ridiculous love,” laughs Oddy endearingly. “Stuffies, ornaments, toys. I can remember singing a song as a little girl that I wanted a horse of my very own. We had a yard at that time big enough for one, but my parent’s never budged, so I would go to the neighbours and sneak rides on their horses, and then I finally got to care for an abandoned colt that came into our lives until my mother decided to sell him.”
While she had a void of horses until moving to Brisco in 2002, caring for equine was in the cards for Oddy who now owns 10, including 2 that are full breed Canadian horses. Having a lot of horses Oddy began exploring avenues in where she could honour her heart and passion while bringing her horses into it when she came across equine energy work.
This was something she quickly put her own energy into as she graduated as a certified Facilitated Equine Experiential Learning (FEEL) Practitioner in March 2008 at a school in Langley which she shares as a mother was very convenient and feasible for her to do as most of the program was self-study at home. Oddy has always been drawn to the ways of Indigenous people, attending pow wows and creating art even as a young girl. She shares that the FEEL training had an Indigenous mold to it, dealing a lot with circles and the directions on the medicine wheel.
“There’s some calling from the past that just keeps it true in my heart, intuitively I feel like I’m doing what some of the medicine people did hundreds of years ago. I’m healing with horses, and horses are a sacred animal,” said Oddy. “My love for the Indigenous culture and how they live and resonate with the planet, and not leave any kind imprint fascinates me, and it’s how I try to live my own life to the best of my ability.
Heart and Soul Medicine Horse opened its gates in 2018 where she now incorporates archery and has become a healing place for many.
“I hope my clients gain a greater connection with themselves, and I hope that their session opens them energetically to feel more comfortable with who they are, enabling them to listen more to their inner self a little bit clearer, and become more grounded,” said Oddy. “If I can help someone become a little bit more grounded or attentive to listening to their inner voice, then I’ve won. That fills up my heart. I get an energetic buzz when I see someone have an aha moment, or when I see a horse tucking someone in and holding them, it’s such a light for me.”
