First published in the January/February 2008 issue Equine Wellness Magazine
In the late 1970s, my equine companion Battle Sterling, a registered thoroughbred and Canadian hunter, had a red winter blanket. I hadn’t given the color much thought and can’t even remember whether or not I chose it myself, but I definitely remember what happened each fall when I pulled it out of storage and suited him up. He would spend days with his head bent around, staring at his body.
At the time, I assumed he must have been assessing how dapper he looked in his beautiful coat. But knowing what I know now, I feel he was actually soaking up the color red, a very grounding and healing hue, and obviously one he required. After a number of days, when he’d had his fill of it, he would happily go back to his normal routine.
In our day-to-day activities with our equine partners, we expose them to a myriad of colors. Each has its own specific frequency, energetic vibration, and particular healing qualities. These colors can play a dramatic role in a horse’s health and well being.
What is Color Therapy?
Color therapy is an ancient form of healing with roots in India, Egypt, and China. Originally, the term referred to treatment with colored light, but nowadays there are many additional approaches to healing with color. To understand how it actually works, and the levels it works on, it is important to have a general understanding of the equine energy field. In addition to a horse’s visible physical body, he also has a number of energy bodies, including the emotional, mental and etheric. It is on each of these levels that the vibration of color works.
Color Me Healthy
In our day-to-day activities with our equine partners, we expose them to a myriad of colors. Each has its own specific frequency, energetic vibration, and particular healing qualities. These colors can play a dramatic role in a horse’s health and well being.
What is Color Therapy?
Color therapy is an ancient form of healing with roots in India, Egypt, and China. Originally, the term referred to treatment with colored light, but nowadays there are many additional approaches to healing with color. To understand how it actually works, and the levels it works on, it is important to have a general understanding of the equine energy field. In addition to a horse’s visible physical body, he also has a number of energy bodies, including the emotional, mental and etheric. It is on each of these levels that the vibration of color works.
Color Me Healthy
Color Mental/emotional effects Physical effects
Red courage, stimulation, strength, groundedness dissipates radiation, rebuilds the liver, helps laminitis
Orange self-confidence, resilience, uplifting releases muscle spasms, strengthens bones and teeth
Yellow mental alertness, optimism, playfulness aids digestion, builds nerves, eliminates worms, helps colic
Red courage, stimulation, strength, groundedness dissipates radiation, rebuilds the liver, helps laminitis
Orange self-confidence, resilience, uplifting releases muscle spasms, strengthens bones and teeth
Yellow mental alertness, optimism, playfulness aids digestion, builds nerves, eliminates worms, helps colic
Green peace, balance, emotional calm destroys bacteria, rebuilds muscle and tissues, helps infections and injuries
Turquoise tranquility, restoration, refreshment dissipates pain, restores vitality, helps with injuries and recovery
Blue calming, contentment, confidence prevents itching, fights infections, soothes nerves, helps with skin conditions, burns, cuts
Violet detoxifies, purifies, promotes interspecies communication strengthens immune system, purifies, helps with West Nile virus
Purple soothing, calms emotions, restores balance controls fever, relieves pain
Indigo gives purpose, inspiration and protection shrinks tumours, purifies blood, tightens muscles, cleanses the system and aura
Magenta mental and emotional balance, acceptance regulates heart and blood pressure, adrenals, circulation, helps bronchial ailments
Pink happiness, joy, sensitivity, lifts spirits aids in circulation
Six Ways to Heal With Color
1. Shining light
You can simply shine an appropriately colored light in the direction of the area you are trying to heal, or in the general direction of the horse. If you don’t have a colored bulb, you can shine a regular light bulb through a theatrical color gel. This may take a bit of ingenuity to set up, but will be well worth the effort.
Hint:
Light is energy and carries a frequency, so it can have a very strong impact on our more sensitive equines.
It is important not to shine colored light directly at the eyes, or force a horse to look into the light through a color gel, as this can trigger a strong response, such as a headache, sharp pain in the eyes, or even an emotional reaction. It is also important not to confine him in a small stall for long periods where he can’t get away from the light if he desires. I recommend staying with the horse initially, or checking on him frequently, until you are completely sure of his reaction.
2. Solarize his drinking water
Take some of your horse’s regular drinking water and place it in a large glass bottle or bowl. Then set the appropriate color gel on top of it, and set it out in the sunlight for a number of hours. You can also wrap a color gel around a glass bottle, or place the water in an appropriately colored glass receptacle in the sun. Setting it in sunlight allows the vibrational frequency of the color to infuse the water and provide the imbiber with its wonderful healing qualities. Then you can simply offer it as a drink from a bucket, or add it to your horse’s existing water.
You can also purchase color essences; these are similar to flower essences, but carry the vibrational frequency of colors as opposed to flowers. They are made the same way as described above, but are pre-bottled and ready to use. Just add around ten drops to your horse’s water.
3. Outfitting your horse
When choosing tack, and even riding apparel, always be conscious of the colors you are introducing.
Hint:
I like to think of the partnership we share with our equine companions as a combination of energies -- the merging of our auras as well as the frequencies of anything else we introduce to the mix.
The colors of halters, lead shanks, blankets, saddle pads and bandages can all have an impact on performance, so it is recommended you choose them wisely based on your goals and desires for training sessions and events. Some of your steeds may require calming colors to function at the top of their game, while others may call for some extra get-up-and-go. The color of your riding apparel is also important, as any hues added to the mix will have an impact on both horse and rider.
4. Surround him with color
The colors you choose for feed bins, stall interiors, horse trailers and even indoor arenas also have an influence on your equine. For a particularly edgy or nervous horse, simply painting the inside of his stall a soothing green or blue will help calm him. For a low- energy ungrounded steed, the color red might be most beneficial.
5. Colorpuncture
This is a relatively new healing modality. It uses concentrating colored light pens, known as acu-light tools, on various body points (both acupuncture and other), in order to create powerful healing impulses in the physical and energetic bodies. It was developed by German scientist and naturopath Peter Mandel, who conducted over 25 years of research to develop this system. As with other forms of color therapy, each light has its own distinct frequency that relays specific information to the horse’s body. For this modality, you will most likely have to find a practitioner with the proper equipment and training.
6. Chakra colors
Another approach to color therapy is using the associated colors of the various chakras. Chakras are simply energy vortices or portals in your horse’s energy body which allow him to receive, assimilate and express life force energy. To determine which chakra is related to the specific condition you are trying to heal, you may simply pick the closest one to the problem area, or study chakras in greater depth to determine the relationship. For general wellbeing, you can treat each chakra with its associated color as a sort of “tune up” before a big event, or as a follow-up to a particular taxing time.
Chakra and Corresponding Color:
Root – red
Sexual progression – orange
Solar plexus – yellow
Heart – green
Throat – sky blue
Sensing – silver blue
Brow – indigo
Crown - purple
Whether you are dealing with undesirable behaviour, an emotional issue, or a physical ailment, color therapy might be the answer. When choosing a particular color (or colors) for your trusty steed, always remember that you know him best, and therefore you are the best one to determine what colors to use. Follow your heart and intuition, and you will rarely be led in the wrong direction. Note: Color therapy is not a substitute for good veterinary care, but can be a wonderful adjunct to it. Please see your veterinarian for any concerns you may have about your horse.
Violet detoxifies, purifies, promotes interspecies communication strengthens immune system, purifies, helps with West Nile virus
Purple soothing, calms emotions, restores balance controls fever, relieves pain
Indigo gives purpose, inspiration and protection shrinks tumours, purifies blood, tightens muscles, cleanses the system and aura
Magenta mental and emotional balance, acceptance regulates heart and blood pressure, adrenals, circulation, helps bronchial ailments
Pink happiness, joy, sensitivity, lifts spirits aids in circulation
Six Ways to Heal With Color
1. Shining light
You can simply shine an appropriately colored light in the direction of the area you are trying to heal, or in the general direction of the horse. If you don’t have a colored bulb, you can shine a regular light bulb through a theatrical color gel. This may take a bit of ingenuity to set up, but will be well worth the effort.
Hint:
Light is energy and carries a frequency, so it can have a very strong impact on our more sensitive equines.
It is important not to shine colored light directly at the eyes, or force a horse to look into the light through a color gel, as this can trigger a strong response, such as a headache, sharp pain in the eyes, or even an emotional reaction. It is also important not to confine him in a small stall for long periods where he can’t get away from the light if he desires. I recommend staying with the horse initially, or checking on him frequently, until you are completely sure of his reaction.
2. Solarize his drinking water
Take some of your horse’s regular drinking water and place it in a large glass bottle or bowl. Then set the appropriate color gel on top of it, and set it out in the sunlight for a number of hours. You can also wrap a color gel around a glass bottle, or place the water in an appropriately colored glass receptacle in the sun. Setting it in sunlight allows the vibrational frequency of the color to infuse the water and provide the imbiber with its wonderful healing qualities. Then you can simply offer it as a drink from a bucket, or add it to your horse’s existing water.
You can also purchase color essences; these are similar to flower essences, but carry the vibrational frequency of colors as opposed to flowers. They are made the same way as described above, but are pre-bottled and ready to use. Just add around ten drops to your horse’s water.
3. Outfitting your horse
When choosing tack, and even riding apparel, always be conscious of the colors you are introducing.
Hint:
I like to think of the partnership we share with our equine companions as a combination of energies -- the merging of our auras as well as the frequencies of anything else we introduce to the mix.
The colors of halters, lead shanks, blankets, saddle pads and bandages can all have an impact on performance, so it is recommended you choose them wisely based on your goals and desires for training sessions and events. Some of your steeds may require calming colors to function at the top of their game, while others may call for some extra get-up-and-go. The color of your riding apparel is also important, as any hues added to the mix will have an impact on both horse and rider.
4. Surround him with color
The colors you choose for feed bins, stall interiors, horse trailers and even indoor arenas also have an influence on your equine. For a particularly edgy or nervous horse, simply painting the inside of his stall a soothing green or blue will help calm him. For a low- energy ungrounded steed, the color red might be most beneficial.
5. Colorpuncture
This is a relatively new healing modality. It uses concentrating colored light pens, known as acu-light tools, on various body points (both acupuncture and other), in order to create powerful healing impulses in the physical and energetic bodies. It was developed by German scientist and naturopath Peter Mandel, who conducted over 25 years of research to develop this system. As with other forms of color therapy, each light has its own distinct frequency that relays specific information to the horse’s body. For this modality, you will most likely have to find a practitioner with the proper equipment and training.
6. Chakra colors
Another approach to color therapy is using the associated colors of the various chakras. Chakras are simply energy vortices or portals in your horse’s energy body which allow him to receive, assimilate and express life force energy. To determine which chakra is related to the specific condition you are trying to heal, you may simply pick the closest one to the problem area, or study chakras in greater depth to determine the relationship. For general wellbeing, you can treat each chakra with its associated color as a sort of “tune up” before a big event, or as a follow-up to a particular taxing time.
Chakra and Corresponding Color:
Root – red
Sexual progression – orange
Solar plexus – yellow
Heart – green
Throat – sky blue
Sensing – silver blue
Brow – indigo
Crown - purple
Whether you are dealing with undesirable behaviour, an emotional issue, or a physical ailment, color therapy might be the answer. When choosing a particular color (or colors) for your trusty steed, always remember that you know him best, and therefore you are the best one to determine what colors to use. Follow your heart and intuition, and you will rarely be led in the wrong direction. Note: Color therapy is not a substitute for good veterinary care, but can be a wonderful adjunct to it. Please see your veterinarian for any concerns you may have about your horse.
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