Tune in with a horse
Meet Honey. When I watch this short video, which I have numerous times, I am most interested in Honey's feedback. Can you read her expressions? She speaks volumes without making a sound. What do you notice?
PLEASE NOTE. This is not recommended if you do not have experience. It is never recommended to reach under a horse or walk behind a horse. I know Honey and her caretaker. My friend and I spent some time desensitizing her to the tuning forks. We gave her time to feel comfortable first. Before beginning the session, I asked the caretaker some basic questions about Honey's health. She is arthritic and stiff like most horses her age. When I work with any horse, I am more interested in their reaction. I let them tell me what they need. And I am not a voodoo healer. I am just another horse lover who likes to learn from the horses.
Sound is everywhere. "Sound is easily overlooked, and yet it has a huge impact on who we are and how we engage with the world. Sound is a tremendously powerful force in our lives.” writes Nina Kraus in her book, Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World. Noise, on the other hand, is an unwanted sound. Humans and horses are sound bodies both receiving and sending vibrations. Our bodies register and transmit sound at the cellular level. At the basic level, sound therapy is a treatment to bring relief and peace, and take a break from the noise.
In this session with Honey, I used 174 hertz (Hz) and 528 Hz therapeutic tuning forks. A tuning fork is an acoustic resonator. When it is tapped, it will transmit a vibration. The tone that a fork makes is determined primarily by the length of its tines or prongs. These are slightly different from a tuning fork used by a musician. They are tuned within 0.5% of the indicated frequency. The 174 Hz is considered to be beneficial for pain and stress. The healing power of 528 Hz has been recognized since ancient times. Scientific studies have shown it increases UV light absorption in DNA and heals DNA by removing impurities that cause sickness and disease.
Horses are much more sensitive to sound than humans: they can hear low to very high frequency sound, in the range of 14 hertz to 25 kilohertz (human range = 20 Hz to 20 kHz).
Honey is an older Tennessee Walker. She has a good life but like most older horses, she needs extra care. My friend, who cares for Honey, asked if I could perform sound therapy on her using tuning forks. Sound therapy may involve touch but in the first session I did not touch the horse with the unweighted tuning forks. I simply activated the tuning forks by tapping on my knee and moved to areas that she liked.
Here are some observations that you may have noticed with Honey in the video:
She is very curious and an apt student.
Honey does not move her legs and does not shift her weight. She is still.
She is tracking me, and the forks the entire time.
She moves very slowly.
She is relaxed and calm.
She is breathing quietly so she can listen.
I heard some gut sounds when I was kneeling (not audible in the video).
Her ears are tracking the sound the entire time except for a millisecond when she checks on her stall mate.
She turns her neck in both directions to observe the process.
She is giving me the message, “Do more!”
Honey is communicating but with no verbal cues. It would take more sessions to assess the benefits for Honey. But a short session like this lets Honey relax and soak up the vibrations! The key to this type of work is paying attention to the horse and observing the non-verbal cues.
More sound, less noise!
As always, I value your feedback (suggestions, critiques, positive reinforcement, constructive insults, etc.), as well as your tips or stories about horses and life with horses, and of course your icebreakers: cam@camronadibi.com. Or use the comments. —> Or just click the heart symbol. That always makes my day.