01/21/2026
ON HYPERVIGILANCE, FAWNING & GIVING OURSELVES WHAT WE GIVE OUR HORSES
As some of you may know, a big focus of my work the past few years has been specifically working with horses who have trauma and helping to restore a sense of safety in the nervous system.
These horses have led the way for my own continued healing, as well β my own liberation.
Iβve had a lot of realizations lately about how πΌ ππππππ‘ πππ π ππππ¦ βπππ π‘βπ πππππ π πππ¦ π ππππ πππ ππ‘π‘π’ππππ π‘π π‘βπ π€ππ πππ ππ π‘βπ βπππ πβπ ππππ¦ ππ πΌ ππππππ‘ π πππ’ππ‘πππππ’π ππ¦ ππ ππππππππ βππ€ π‘π ππ π‘βππ‘ πππ ππ¦π πππ, ππ π€πππ.
This is why I believe that holding space for our horses requires us holding space for ourselves, too.
If we are not able to offer this to ourselves, I think we will feel impatience, resistance, agitation, and burn out when it comes from doing it for our horses.
Which is why listening to our horseβs bodies oftentimes requires us to listen to our own bodies, too β and perhaps grieving all the times we have not been able to. π΄ππ π‘βπ π‘ππππ π€π βππ£π π πππππππ βππ, ππ’π βππ βππ, πππππππ βππ, ππ’πππ βππ βππ, πππ’ππ βππ, ππ’π‘ππππ‘ππ βππ, βππ‘ππ βππ.
We must reclaim the holy wisdom of our bodies in order to reclaim the wisdom of the horseβs body. Of the Earthβs body. And horses can show us how.
After all, what other animal has had her body so thoroughly abused and meticulously shaped into an object and tool of oppression and violence? I believe she holds unspeakable wisdom through her lived experience of the horrors of this.
I believe many women already sense all of this, the unique connection that exists between women and horses β our bodies share resonant stories.
My horsemanship approach comes from the core belief that everything is everything else β and connecting what has been disconnected, the sacred work of Re-Membering what has been split, and weaving ourselves back into land that holds us, remembering the rivers flowing through our veins, the holy waters of our wombs, the stardust in our bones.
I think this is part of the magic horses have to teach us β that we can so oftentimes miss when we approach this relationship as horses to be βfixedβ or prioritizing what we have to teach our horses over becoming a good student.
After my last post, Iβve had a few comments discussing hypervigilance and the fawn response as it presents in people. I thought this might be a good time to share an article that came up recently from a somatic psychologist, Ailey Jolie, whose work I have found to be incredibly resonant lately.
I hope this stirs something in you as it did for me
