Testimonials

When Miranda invited me to take part in this workshop, I was struck by her sense of timing. At that point I had been feeling that I had been living on a razor sharp edge. I had returned to Bristol after 13 years to live, and was confronted moment by moment by the reality of my past. Every corner and every street held a memory of the horror of my life back then, a time when I had submerged into the world of heroin and prostitution. I felt that I was standing between two worlds trying to make sense of where and who I was in relation with.

Like many others, I am someone whose truth, sense of is real in the moment had been crushed for more than one reason. By losing sight of my truth I lost the sense of who I was and therefore sight of my own needs and was not able to develop my own boundaries. I have spent most of my life feeling like someone without skin, totally open and susceptible to the energies coming my way.

Horses, in my view have always represented intuition, freedom and indomitability. These are qualities I own within myself that I had to bury and deny in the name of survival. Although I did not know much about equine assisted therapy on a cognitive level I had a sensory understanding. I sensed that it would be about finding a lead into what had been forbidden. My own intuition, and my own indomitable wild nature.

Shortly after we had arrived we performed a body scan exercise so that we could establish where we were at and to get a clearer focus on our intentions. I was left with a very tight feeling in my stomach. I simultaneously had an image of a huge old vine barrel. I realized I was full of other peoples stuff. I realized my work was going to be about my boundaries.

We were all led into the field where we were encouraged to meet the horses. I was amazed at the ease in which people moved toward the horse. I was afraid and couldn’t go much further than the inside of the gate. Within seconds a herd of horses came galloping towards me one of which skidded to a halt. I was transfixed by the gaze of one particular horse whose name was Fredy. Even though I was terrified my feet felt rooted to the ground and I could not move. I don’t know how long had passed in his presence but I felt flooded by compassion and love. It felt like Fredy had chosen me, that there was common ground.

It was then suggested that we all take a break before the individual sessions began. When we all returned Fredy was in the school waiting. I was afraid of him, his sheer size and power but also his wilderness. But I was also becoming aware the fact that Fredy was representing the relationship I have with myself, the fear of my own wildness.

In my life I have learned to drown my fear, to deny it. My fear was always followed by a sense of worthlessness. Fear had become taboo. But Fredys peaceful and loving presence allowed it to be without judgement. I felt my experience was honored.

I felt released from something and then able to move. Step by step I moved closer and close to Fredy. In all this time Fredy was holding my gaze. At that point I became aware of my femaleness and his maleness. We had moved into another dimension which went beyond our physical entities. He was no longer a horse and I was no longer a human. We were making contact.

I took my final step towards him. It was at this point when I felt a strong need to invite him to let him know I was trusting him. I was awestruck by his intuition. He immediately began to walk towards me. There was also something about the way he was moving towards me really slowly and really gently that was making me feel safe. I guess he was communicating this to me.

We stood close for what was a few minutes but seemed like an eternity. I was with intimacy in a way I had never been before. It was hard saying goodbye.

Fredy has helped me honor my fears. I am realizing that my fears are necessary as they are guarding the gateway to a place where love freedom and the wild live. My essence.

I don’t have enough words to thank Miranda for her incredible timing for clasping my hand once again when I felt I was falling.

A three day intensive individual session with Miranda and the Horses by Klara Peeters from Belgium

"After an exhausting year of emotional strain and heart-pain, I found Miranda and decided that healing in other circumstances and away from home could be helpful. I went for a three days individual session. Not only I got lessons from the mare Maud about intimacy, love and hypersensitivity and from the gelding Fred about keeping boundaries. A remarkable synchronicity was there between their relationship and mine with my partner. A parallel world was shown to me. Miranda was there all these days for me with an extreme attention and concentration and a bright intuition. In a very natural and smooth way I was taken to the points that mattered, on every level: mental, emotional and spiritual. Always I had the feeling that it was right on top of what was need to move on, without a moment of doubt. I felt very safe and the cooperation between both of us and the horses was like a beautiful woven tapestry.

The crown on my journey was a beautiful ritual in the woods that empowered me and prepared me to go back to my home.
I left with a thinlayer of diamonds in my heart: the base to start healing and a rock under my feet: ready to stand for my essence. I also got affirmation on what I hoped: horses always will be there for me and are masters in love and clarity."

Ongoing work with Miranda.
Jemma's Experience of ongoing Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy with Miranda

"I have had many years experience of psychotherapy now, both as a client and as a practitioner. Working with the horses has been one of the most life changing things I have chosen to do, and the reason for this, I think, is because I have been able to work with the same herd over a period of time, but also learning from previous sessions gets reinforced each time and the changes are able to take root and become lasting. One meeting with the horses can be a good, powerful experience, but if it is a one-off then that is how it roots itself in the psyche - one good experience. For me, it is the ongoing relationship I have with the horses which makes the work truly therapeutic.

In working with the horses over time, they have reached me in ways that have not been possible through conventional psychotherapy. I have spent a lot of my life not really living in my body. For a lot of reasons it has not felt safe to be. I think horses are particularly gifted at working with people who have been abused or traumatized in some way. If there has been sexual abuse for example, I believe that healing needs to come through the body, through physical experience since the original damage was done to and through the body. In talking therapies there is a lot of fear and confusion around touch between therapist and client. If a client has been abused, it is assumed that it is not safe to touch them because it oversteps boundaries and can be completely misconstrued. This may well be true, but what I also know to be true is that withholding touch can create impenetrable boundaries, leaving us isolated on the other side, feeling untouchable and bad for wanting something so much. Many of us are hungry for good,safe physical contact -need a safe place to learn about it, to explore what that means.

Horses are very much able to live in and through their bodies. They don't need to discuss it with their supervisor if they come into direct physical contact with us. I have been licked and chewed and sniffed by horses taking an interest in me, getting to know me. I have been pushed around and affectionately nibbled - as if I were one of the herd.It's hard to find the right words to describe the impact of these simple interactions. It has brought me to a greater awareness of what an embodied life actually feels like. I am kinder to it, more attentive to what it needs. For example I am finding a more balanced attitude towards eating which has been a longstanding difficulty."