Horse Week: The healing power of Westfield Equine Reiki reaches Auckland, New Zealand

Valerie visited the prestigious Alexandra Park Harness Racing – renowned as an Auckland institution!

The Auckland Trotting Club Inc. is a 133-year-old club that operates a membership based organisation which owns and operates this premier venue for Harness Racing in the North Island.

Alexandra Park Harness Racing hosts races most Thursday or Friday nights of the year.

Dr Valerie Westfield PhD is a Traditional Usui Reiki Master, Epona Equine Reiki Practitioner, Epona Animal Reiki Practitioner, Associate Member of the British Veterinary Association and a Member of Irish Veterinary Behaviour Association. She often works with the Northern Ireland Standardbred Association.

Reiki (pronounced “Ray-key”) is a simple Japanese energy-balancing method that is used by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.

It is most well-known as a sort of hands-on treatment technique, and many people have regular Reiki treatments.

Any horse can benefit from a course of Reiki treatments, regardless of age or state of health, and beneficial changes can take place over a fairly short space of time.

Some of the problems or areas that Dr Westfield and others have found Reiki to help with include physical injuries (tendons/ligaments etc), sweet itch, laminitis, colic, box walking, competition stress (for horse and rider!), performance, wind sucking, cribbing, owner/horse relationship, loading problems, appetite loss and separation anxiety.

The equine Reiki practitioner will decide whether to treat your horse tied up, free in the stable or sometimes over the stable door.

The practitioner will either lay their hands on the horse’s body or from a space away, depending on how the horse wishes to receive energy.

During the treatment, energy (called ‘chi’) is drawn through the practitioner into the recipient, helping produce a state of balance.

The great thing about using Reiki on horses is that you can ‘see’ it working.

Different types of horses can react in different ways, for example, youngsters may not show as many signs of relaxation during their first treatment as an older horse may, however, the young horse will often lie down to sleep after the treatment when it is alone.

No matter what the reaction, Reiki is giving your horse what it needs. And, healthy horses can benefit from Reiki too.

If you would like to get in touch with Westfield Equine Reiki, you can call 07774 796 508 or email [email protected]