With these FIVE ELEMENTS, we can more easily understand the individual horse and help it feel good and stay healthy. Each horse embodies common physical and behavioral characteristics of the Five Elements of Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM). It is important to know what type of horse you have or want to buy, in order to know how to best train your horse and keep it healthy.
By understanding how the Five Element patterns relate to your horse, you can learn how to keep your horse healthy and happy on a deep, lasting level. We can also complement it by learning acupressure through simple touch to bring health and happiness to our horses.
In a series of articles on my website, I describe the five different horse elements from Susan Tenney, an international teacher, author and practitioner of Shiatsu and Five Element Acupressure for animals. She describes the Five Elements in Classical Chinese Medicine and how to find out which element one's horse (or dog) belongs to. The elements are FIRE, EARTH, WATER, WOOD and METAL .
THE METAL ELEMENT
Collected, Dependable, Antisocial
Organs: Lungs
A reserved, hard-working horse prone to coughing and skin diseases may be a Metal Horse/Lung Horse.
A very dutiful horse that is not particularly interested in human contact. It likes to know what its task is and then finds security in that. Help your hard-working Metal Horse stay healthy.
Learn to keep your respiratory and immune systems healthy and keep the spark in your eye. Metal Horses benefit from herbs, acupressure and lifestyle changes that balance the Metal Element.
Properties:
The metal horse is like a dressage horse, performing each step correctly and methodically with a calm determination. Precise and controlled in its movement, elegant, sleek and powerful that does its job well. The Metal Horse shares many characteristics with the Earth Horse. Both the Earth Horse and the Metal Horse are even in temperament, reliable and calm but what motivates them is completely different.
The easy-going Earth Horse's greatest ambition is to have a lazy afternoon in a lush pasture, while the Metal Horse thrives on hard work and mental challenge and lives within its limits. Whether it's a strict dressage lesson for a Metal Horse in its prime or the task of leading youngsters around the ring for a "retired" elder, the Metal Horse needs a job to feel productive and useful.
While calm, quiet and orderly on the outside, the Metal Horse is actually very sensitive and will internalize stress if not careful.
It is basically calm until its routine is disturbed. Then the Metal Horse can become quite ungrounded and restless, otherwise it is a rock. It likes routine. This horse also internalizes its anxiety until it can no longer, then it shows it on the surface.
Otherwise, it is basically a calm, gentle horse when it is balanced and content with its world. The Metal Horse is friendly and warm-hearted which makes it popular with many people, but it can also be stubborn and unyielding. If the situation does not give the horse what it wants, it can easily become bored, unmotivated and frustrated.
Behavior:
This horse thrives in a calm and orderly home. In the movement of a large stable, the Metal Horse is happiest at the end of the row of stalls far from the entrance, or better yet, somewhere where it can go out freely and get its private time when it needs it. Stables that have non-stop music on or constant activity can really irritate the horse's sensitive feelings. If you play music in the stable while you do your chores, choose soothing music or let it go outside to the sounds of nature.
The metal horse is not a social butterfly. It is happiest in a small herd with a few other horses it can trust. When it connects with another animal or person, its connection becomes deep and lasting. Feel honored if you are the recipient of a Metal Horse's feelings – it bonds closely only with a person it truly trusts and respects. And its loyalty, once engaged, becomes overwhelming.
Suitable for:
Dressage, reining, jumping
Training:
The Metal Horse is easy to train because it is smart, knowledgeable and willing to work hard. But remember that the Metal Horse gives one hundred percent to its students and it expects you to do the same.
It is tolerant of an untrained rider who is serious and tries hard, but impatient with a skilled trainer who is sloppy or lax during training. This competent companion and companion takes working with you very seriously. It connects through work, not play.
To encourage harmony and maximum performance, be sure not to overexert your Metal Horse. Although its reliable and collected nature seems to take everything in stride, its seemingly calm exterior often hides a very sensitive individual.
You might think this horse has no problem handling the strain of many weekends in the show ring or endless riding lessons. Often the Metal Horse internalizes the stress of a heavy workload, sometimes to an unhealthy degree. Metal Horses also become stressed when they are required to maintain a calm demeanor in the midst of chaos or hardship.
Metal horses working in therapeutic riding or as police horses are expected to deliver consistent calm and reliable behavior under difficult conditions. Your ultra-competent Metal Horse will likely meet this demanding requirement, but it may come at the expense of its inner sense of well-being. Metal Horses can find peace in repetitive work and patterns and need a lot of flexibility in the work that helps them stay soft in body and mind.
Physical health:
Look carefully for subtle signs of stress. Physical signs such as a chronic cough or skin conditions can point to internal tension. By carefully monitoring the early signs of stress in this horse, you can prevent problems before they worsen. Monitoring stress will also help it avoid any tendency to shut down emotionally under pressure.
The most common place to look for physical ailments in the Metal Horse is the respiratory system. If your horse coughs regularly, has labored breathing, respiratory infections, allergies or other respiratory disease, consider supporting the Metal element with acupressure, acupuncture or herbs.
It can cause skin problems such as rashes, dry skin, hair loss, allergies, eczema, skin sensitivity, itching, hot spots, etc. which indicates that your horse is dealing with a Metall imbalance.
The Metal Horse can also show digestive problems such as dry stools, constipation, impaction colic, poor appetite or digestive problems. The horse's immune system may also require extra attention to remain strong.
These physical symptoms come to the surface when the horse is under emotional, mental or physical stress. Remember to pay close attention to these signs – they may be the only way this stoic horse communicates that it needs your help.
In terms of performance, your Metal Horse will move and perform best when it receives regular stretching and/or energetic healing work. Keep this in mind if you see your Metal Horse moving like a robot. Stay ahead of rigidity and your Metal Horse's tendency to hide stress, and you'll see its quiet elegance and competence shine through in every step.
SUMMARY
Emotional Character
Emotional strengths: Logical, clear-minded, methodical and calm, even-tempered, sensible, intelligent, sensitive, reliable, independent, independent
Stressed by: Turmoil, noise, lack of order, incompetence, stupidity, incorrect actions, unreasonable expectations from the trainer/rider, overly sentimental interactions, some Metal Horses are reserved towards lots of touch such as massage, often preferring acupressure or energy work with minimal contact
Balanced by: Quiet time alone or with a favorite person or animal, calm, order, clean surroundings, respect, honor, competence, routine, work, correctness
Vulnerable to: Mental rigidity, intolerance, judgment, dismissiveness, perfectionism, unhealthy expectations, self-righteousness, unreasonable demands on competence or performance of self and others, such as coaches, stoicism, trying to do it alone, withdrawal
Responds to stress with: Internalizing stress, inner chaos with outer calm and order, impatience, irritation, emotional withdrawal, emotional shutdown, reserved behavior, physical ailments such as coughs and skin problems, blocks intimacy
Learning style: Benefit from methodical and challenging lessons, mental challenge, clarity, correctness and competence from trainer, calm quiet direct handling, no nonsense approach, regular work
Tips for success: Be CLEAR, quiet and respectful, keep this horse working – it needs meaningful work or training, work hard on your own part of the work – ie: handling / horsemanship to earn respect, don't over-sentimentalise your interactions, tinker with time gently with this horse to make it feel safe and express feelings and gain connection and intimacy
Physical character
Favorite Sports: Any sport or activity that gives the horse a chance to give its all, a sport that requires mental focus, precision and demanding physical concentration and effort. Dressage, reining, jumping are favorites but can be enjoyed regardless of sport performed well, police horse
Common health problems: All skin problems (rash, dry skin, hair loss, allergies, eczema, skin sensitivity, etc.), all breathing difficulties (cough - acute or chronic, labored breathing, wheezing, lung infection, etc...), require moistened hay, coughs at the beginning of work, all immune problems , constipation, impaction colic “slats (bony growths in response to injury) on the inside tibia of the front legs , coughing or stocking up when the fur changes or when the horse receives vaccination, stiff neck or worse when the horse receives vaccination
Tips for well-being: Challenging work when fit, regular work to feel needed and meaningful as a retiree, paying attention to environmental factors that affect the respiratory system such as exercise mats, dusty hay, dusty stables, skin products, stretching for flexibility, evaluating the need for vaccination with a holistic vet (less is often better with this horse)
If you have a metal horse, you should know that it can get upset with changes from routine and can internalize tension which can lead to upset stomach and stress. Metal horses process small bits of information more easily in baby steps than too much too fast. They may shut down and seem unable to connect.
They can be hard born and also be very stiff in body and joints. Turmeric, flax, ginger and other herbs can help in its diet. Metal horses work best with an organized and disciplined trainer. They are good horses for people who like to do more repetitive exercises and patterns in the arena.
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