Hi! A client is looking into having an animal communicator as she just can’t figure out what is wrong ‘soundness’ wise. Done blocks from hoof to shoulder, injected, bone scan, chiro, acupuncture, ect… Been dealing with it for over a year- as a last resort she is going to try AC- even the vet said she should give it a try!! anyhow, she is looking at Lidia Hiby, any one have any experience with her? Good or bad? … And I know there are plenty of skeptics, she’s not looking for an opinion in that regard (tho we all are entitled to our own ideas), at $40, that’s less then the farm call for the vet, so if nothing else, it’s entertainment!! Thanks for any replies!!!
As professionals, you and the vet should BOTH be giving your client better advice.
Unless you both think what she really needs is a high dose of “owner placebo.”
A soundness problem a local vet cannot Dx would best be served by a trailer ride to a major veterinary teaching hospital such as Cornell or Tufts where a more complete workup can be done.
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Thx, horse has had three top vets look at him, 2 physio therapists from Europe, physical therapist that works on US Olympic horses, 2 surgeons, been to the university teaching hospital… As mentioned above, it’s a last resort before retiring horse to a wonderful life… And for fun!! If it brings info, great, if not- at least she can say she “tried everything”. She simply wants the best for the horse
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Flame me if you want: She couldn’t have been any more off on reading both my horses, to the point of absurdity. There was NFW she was “communicating” with either of them.
NOTE: I am not real believer in animal communicators, but I tried her because she came to our stable and I was curious. Save your money. Good luck.
I can recommend an AC that I have used before, that works by phone, Dana Meier. She can be found on Facebook, or I can provide her contact info. Somewhere in here is my recounting of our last visit from a few years ago, complete with posters responding to make fun and mock me, but I believe others also replied with their own stories of having used one.
I actually have another appointment on Friday, as a similar last ditch effort with a horse who I am on the verge of putting down.
Has anyone ever tried muscle testing???
Sometimes the animal may not know what’s wrong - it may know how it feels but doesn’t know what’s causing the problem.
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why not try 6 months at pasture, then see if horse is sound…a mid solution before a life of retirement.
Imo AC are total BS…perhaps for a behavior problem they can sometimes be of help more because they tap into the person’s anxieties or wishes and give feedback to that.
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Test for an Animal Communicator:
Place the Communicator in a position where they have “communication” with your animal but are not in “line of sight.” This can be in a separate room, behind a stall wall, or simply with their back to the animal (and no reflective surfaces in the area).
Once “communication” is confirmed hold your credit card in front of the animal so that it is clearly visible to it. Then ask the Communicator to read back to you the number. If they can do that, pay them. If not, tell them to cop a walk.
G.
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Does OP really need your opinions on if you think it’s hogwash or not? I paid $70 for AC onetime, and I think it was really helpful. Of course, I had 6 pages of people on here tell me “I wasted my money!” “I gave her info with my facial expressions (it was over email…)!” or my favorite “I can google you and find out all your info! (which I tried and could not)”.
I have not used the person you are asking about, OP, but I did use PetSpeaker. She was VERY sport on. It was sort of eerie the way she described my horses feelings about an old owner (that I am very close with). She also hit a few other little things that made me a gasp. It was also FUN. I have you get some answers, and I don’t think you are any less of a trainer/owner/bm/whatever for it.
So, unless you are paying for the AC, your opinion honestly doesn’t matter and is doing no good. All the haters didn’t stop me from doing it. Thank god I make my own money, and that I am a big girl and can make my own decisions.
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I am not a believer in general. But my bigger question is how much use a horse’s input would be. I mean, right now, I have a pain in my left thigh. I know it hurts - I don’t know if it is a sprain, strain, bone bruise, or because of my back issues, etc.
I would think traditional diagnostics would be pretty good at figuring out where a horse hurts. It is the why that is more difficult. I really don’t think that the “patient” input would help.
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I can not possibly see how an AC can “read” an animal by email/from a distance. They are picking up on cues the owner tells them over the phone or writes, and they put out some common themes that apply to nearly every horse…and depending how the person reacts, embellish or go on to the next…horse misses its former herdmate from way back when, horse once had an incident that scared it, horse likes its new home but worries about old owner or the like.
At least if an AC sees a horse, if they are experienced with horses, they might pick up on nervousness or signs of discomfort from the horse (but then nearly any experienced person would pick up on that)
You know who we should be consulting but almost never do? THE GROOMS, if the stable has them ( assuming boarding). The grooms spend time day in day out and may notice something but don’t say anything because it is not their place to do so.
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I have used Kathy George AC. I found she was cheap and pretty spot on. I just did it for fun but was surprised about some of the things she had to say. She does her readings by phone. I think it is $15 for the first 15 min and another $15 for an additional 15 min! good luck!!
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I’m a total disbeliever, but if you want to throw money away, go for it.
An AC misread my horse so badly it was comical. Like she was clearly making things up and didn’t realize this horse had a documented history so we would know if it was true or not.
How in the world can anyone “read” an animal over the phone…they make general observations true of most horses or dogs or cats and judging how the owner responds, take it from there. If AC says they feels the dog is missing someone, a friend… ( general observation, fishing) and owner says, “oh his best friend at dog park no longer comes around! Poor Jake keeps looking for him”…then the communicator goes into how lonely Jake feels and that’s why he’s chewing the couch.
If some find it entertaining then what can one say…I watch some dopey TV for entertainment.
I have a good friend who had a client with a horse that could not be diagnosed. Several vets, several different theories. Client finally contacted Laura Rowley, she told the client the horse had a fungus in its nasal passage and how to treat it. Horse was cured and continued on being a successful show horse. Other people might know this story, would have been in the NE/NY area.
There are defintely fakes in this line of work, but I have heard of and experienced Animal communicators that were spot on and helpful. I can’t speak to the one you named specifically, but I do know that Laura is quite successful in her work.
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[QUOTE=Countrywood;8377552]
I can not possibly see how an AC can “read” an animal by email/from a distance. They are picking up on cues the owner tells them over the phone or writes, and they put out some common themes that apply to nearly every horse…and depending how the person reacts, embellish or go on to the next…horse misses its former herdmate from way back when, horse once had an incident that scared it, horse likes its new home but worries about old owner or the like.
At least if an AC sees a horse, if they are experienced with horses, they might pick up on nervousness or signs of discomfort from the horse (but then nearly any experienced person would pick up on that)
You know who we should be consulting but almost never do? THE GROOMS, if the stable has them ( assuming boarding). The grooms spend time day in day out and may notice something but don’t say anything because it is not their place to do so.[/QUOTE]
That was not my experience at all. Maybe I ought to record the call this time, so I can transcribe the whole thing - something I wish I would have done last time, for all the nasty responses I got on here.
My horses are at home, they don’t have grooms, besides me. All the AC asked for was a (barn) name and the horse’s color. No other background info at all.
okay, maybe there are a few good ones!
I had my horse read by a different AC and it was pretty accurate. I didn’t have any real issues that I needed info on, but rather did it for fun.
Why not do it? Like you said - $40 is well worth it!!
While there may be AC frauds ( there are frauds in every line of money making work, their existence does not render an entire field fake necessarily) there may very well be ones that indeed can do what they say.
Animals DO communicate with each other. They do not use words, but they surely use something. Body language-- yes of course. Noise-- yes. Noises that mean different things, yes of course. Is there more than that? Is there another way that they transmit information to each other? What I understand as part of the premise of an AC is that animals think in images and can somehow relay those images to each other as a means of communication and it is this that the AC taps into.
Sounds plausible enough.
Think of the complex organization of a wolf pack. Somehow they communicate on how to organize their team work in a hunt. I have 2 Australian Shepherds–while playing indoor hide and seek with them, they showed some interesting team work. I “hid” in a bathroom with 2 doors. Each guarded one of the doors-- waiting for me to emerge from where I was hiding. They did this over and over… somehow they had communicated with each other about this strategy.
I had an AC visit my horse-- for fun-- as he was coming to the barn-- and I thought oh what the heck there is nothing to lose but a relatively small sum of money and who knows, I just might learn something of interest. What I found interesting was my non-demonstrative horse’s reaction to the AC. We were stood outside of the horse’s stall door. At one point, the horse came and focused very intently on the AC, with a sort of weird unwavering look, very steady and concentrated. Then the horse walked over to me. Before the horse had walked over to me, the AC was explaining that the horse had communicated how much he liked me and his new life. OK, generic enough. But just as the AC had said that, the horse came and laid his head in my arms. He has not done this before or since. He did this AFTER the AC communicated this information-- not before. Weird timing. Make of it what you will. It does not prove that there is such a thing as what ACs claim to be doing. My horse’s behavior though was very interesting throughout-- perhaps this is anthropomorphism, but the horse did seem like he was intently focused and thinking on something, and this is not the way the horse usually interacts with people hanging around outside his stall. Usually he is making smiley faces trying to get treats. He didn’t do any of that with the AC.
The idea that animals communicate with each other via mental images as well as other ways does not strike me as particularly outlandish. That there may be some people who can pick up on this also does not strike me as outlandish.
Every horseman/women worth their salt is an “animal communicator.”
Anyone who’s ever been in the investigation business knows that when asking somebody a question you have to be careful not to suggest the answer (assuming you’re looking for accuracy and not some sort of “political” statement). A skilled questioner can lead someone where they don’t really want to go. And if they do want to go there that skilled questioner can “grease the skids.”
Before I would accept even the possibility of “animal communication” by phone I’d have to see a demonstration of a “cold” reading under controlled circumstances.
Any number of magicians from Harry Houdini to the Amazing Randi to Penn and Teller have spent time “debunking” this sort of thing. If these “communicators” were real they’d be multi millionaires from winning money at Belmont or Santa Anita. They aren’t.
G.
