Epala Newsletter

July 2011 

www.epala.org 

 Dear Friends of Epala;

Well it must be summer. This week the temps soared to 98 degrees in Northern Wisconsin! The horses are sleek in their summer coats and happy as can be out roaming the pastures. We had a black bear in the pasture the other day - YES - this is "Up-North." He sauntered through as the horses watched - curious but undisturbed - which made me think this wasn't the first such visit by "Oso."

LauraAnn and I met so many wonderful folks at the horse expos and fairs this year. We want to thank every one who came to our booth and all who came to my "Who Am I with My Horse" sessions at Minnessota Horse Expo. There was an overriding theme that occurred to both LauraAnn and I as we talked with you. So many of you are changing your relationship, perception and interactions with your horses - finding new meaning for their role in your life - discovering new ways to"see" them, listen to them, talk to them.  Some of you laughed and some of you cried as you shared  amazing stories of  your relationships with your horses. I thank each of you who confirmed for us that Epala is indeed helping advance the paradigm of partnership between humans and horses.

In July I'll be in Chicago, Minneapolis and around the state of Wisconsin conducting Horse as Teacher workshops and Who Am I with My Horse workshops. Check the website www.epala.org for the Epala workshop schedule.

Epala is hosting a very special workshop August 6,7, 2011 with Anke Johnson of Natural Solutions (www.naturalsolutionsbyanke.com ). Anke and I met at the Holistic Horse Fair last year and envisioned a workshop with the Epala herd that would bring healing, renewal and most of all new found confidence and mastery in overcoming fear and self-doubt in relationship with one's horse. Read about it below.

Also read about Stephanie Reinhold
(www.reinholdshorsewellness.com) - practitioner of the Masterson Method of equine bodywork. Stephanie spent 2 days working with the Epala herd last month. It was truly amazing to see the results and each horse now has their own Masterson Method plan to address their individual challenges.  

Also in this newsletter read about Epala's partnership with Young Living Essential Oil practitioners (www.youngliving.com ) based on our personal experience with the power of these ancient healing oils in our work with the Epala horses and with ourselves.

Epala and YOUNG LIVING

ESSENTIAL OILS:

A natural choice for humans and horses.

  http://www.youngliving.com/en_US

Those of you who have met and worked with Epala horse Lizzy know what a loving healer

she is. Lizzy faces each day and the challenge of her Cushings condition with acceptance

and grace. I have put my Hunter archetype to task to research and experiment with

every possible alternative way to help Lizzy live her life to the fullest despite the Cushings.

I've always dabbled in essential oils as an alternative to synthetic medication for myself

and my four legged family. Recently however I had an experience with Lizzy and

Young Living essentail oils that is getting me on my soap box to exclaim to the

world that essential oils can be an important part of your "medicine cabinet" for your horses.

I had the chance to work with two amazing Young Living practitioners at the

Minnesotta Horse Expo: Ed Geiger and Cherie Ross. Intuitively they offered an

essential oil formulation for Lizzy to help ease her Cushings. I began giving the oils

to Lizzy each day and within a week I saw dramatic changes in her body, her energy

levels and her spirit! She came into heat for the first time in 2 years and was running

around the pasture flirting with all the geldings like a young filly. The ongoing challenge

of a crested neck, distended belly and long, unshedding winter coat seemed to reverse

in fast motion. She started dropping her winter hair to reveal a beautiful silken summer coat.

 I had added nothing new to her diet or daily routine - just the oils. One of the unique

properties of therapeutic grade essential oils is their intentional, energetic process

that is strengthened by the belief system of the practitioner. I never doubted that these oils

 - so aromatic and so pure - wouldn't help Lizzy in some way - maybe that helped.

 I never doubted their ability to give her relief. They didn't disappoint.

I'm lucky. My sister LauraAnn Toepfer is becoming an essential oil practitioner for animals

and she is being supported by the trainings offered by Young Living Essential Oils.

We want to encourage you to consider the practice of essential oils for your horses.

LauraAnn is an excellent resource and you can chat with her at 414 750-9458.

Meanwhile I'll keep offering Lizzy her special formulation and I've already used other oils

 for other situations that seem to pop up when you have a household and farm filled with animals.