Books with Spirit – Joyfulness between horses and people

Here’s a great reason for keeping two or more horses together, that you might not have come accross. 

There is a powerful acupuncture point in the horse’s mouth that releases endorphins (the feel good, pain relieving hormone).  That point is located where the gum joins the upper lip in the centre of the horses mouth.

Yesterday, I noticed that when they rub another horse with the pad of the their nose, they activate that acupuncture point and release the feel good endorphins. So, rubbing another horse is a seriously pleasurable event.

I have also noticed that as they rub another horse, they are often working on that horse’s known pressure and acupuncture points. (Gee whiz, what a surprise that they know what they are doing! Yes, a little Aussie sarcasm there…) 

I see it in clinics a lot, how being rubbed by another horse actively improves visible muscular problems. (I tend to notice these things because of my extensive experience in fixing muscular-skeletal problems in horses.)

These two insights taken together, mean that depriving a horse of a companion to rub and be rubbed by, seriously compromises our horse’s ability to self heal.

Click here for how this relates to windsucking