Looking for stories about horse psychics

[jody_jaffe]

I am writing an article about animal communicators. Anyone have any stories about their experiences with an animal communicator you’ve talked to about your horse, alive or passed?

I am writing this article in conjunction with my next novel, “Commander Speaks,” about a
punctilious recently imported Hanoverian gelding who can’t stop talking to the animal communicator his new owner hires to find out why he is biting people. And along the way he solves a murder, the problem being he’s the only witness and who’s going to believe a talking horse?

Please either post here, or email me at jodyjaffe@gmail.com

thank you,
Jody Jaffe

[chestnutmarebeware]

I’ve shared this on the Forum before, but here it is:

First, I’m not a believer in animal communicators, or any other woo-woo practioners or practices. This led to a number of not-quite arguments with my longterm SO at the time as he did believe in that sort of thing.

Horses involved: Davos, bay TB in his late 20s and in poor condition, rescued by a group of local homeowners living by the sketchy hack barn where he was kept and overworked. He went down for several days with no vet attention and they finally convinced the owner to let one of our local rescues take him. The rescue then asked my SO (great farrier) if he could live with us since we had empty stalls and 80 acres of good pasture so his terrible laminitis could be easily addressed as needed. (Daily shoe and pad changes as it turned out.)

Several months later Davos was sound and loved to hack (at a walk and trot) around the property. I told the rescue we wanted to keep him. Another thing to know is that when it was cold enough to put on blankets, I was always borrowing one of my other horses’ back-up turnouts. One day I was at a small tack shop and they had leftover blankets marked down to almost nothing. The only one in Davos’ size was bright purple. The first time I put it on him, I chatted to him as usual and told him that this blanket was his alone and he’d never have to wear borrowed blankets again, and didn’t think anymore about it.

Luna, middle-aged gray mare of unknown breed, pulled from a local auction for meat price since no one else bid on her. We offered to take her (SO was also farrier for this group) for payback of their out-of-pocket costs. She showed signs of weakness in her hind end, and we could offer her pasture pet status or euthanasia if she didn’t respond to medical treatment. Once she arrived we had an exam and X-rays done and some chiropractor work, but neither of the these pros could determine the exact location of the issue.

After Luna had only improved a little, my SO knew I was worried about her, so one of my Christmas gifts was a phone consultation with his go-to animal communicator of choice (including an appointment so I couldn’t wiggle out). I rolled my eyes so hard that I saw my brain, but agreed to do it.

The appointment was in an early January evening and I was held up at work so I called my SO to ask him if he could feed, blanket and turn the horses back out. He was still working at our barn when I arrived so I went out to help. I immediately noticed that he had used the wrong blanket on Davos, but didn’t have time before the appointment to change it. But I did joke that Davos would be upset at his mistake.

During the call, the communicator told me exactly where Luna felt the back pain, but I was skeptical because there was no way to verify the information. She also said she was happy to be here, liked her friends, etc., etc., etc. Yeah— more unprovable statements.

Then she said as a courtesy she liked to reach out to pasture mates to give them a chance to talk as well. So I only described Davos physically (big elderly bay TB with a star).

It only took about five seconds before she said “Davos wants to know why he can’t wear his purple blanket.” I was gobsmacked because even if she was guessing about a blanket, bright purple was not common at that time and NOT a color to choose as a guess.

I did the only thing that I could, which was sputter a lot and to ask her to tell Davos I would be right out to change blankets. SO was doing the “I told you so” dance so I told him he needed to come too, since it was his mistake.

BTW, Davos was at the gate instead of eating hay as normal when we came outside. And he never had to wear the wrong blanket again (I apologized!). When we had to euthanize him a few years later in his early 30s due to presumed stomach cancer, I made sure he was buried with that blanket.

And Luna’s issues were located exactly where the communicator indicated. Chiropractic and acupuncture treatments directed there made her sound for riding by springtime.

I still doubt 99.9% of people who claim to have this skill, but this woman clearly was an exception.

ETA that I would love to read your article. I hope you share a link, since I love your three Nattie Gold novels!

[2DogsFarm]

Another former sceptic here.
But since my 1st attempt (from desperation)back in 1996, I’ve spoken (as have my horses) with 2 different communicators.
I now consider them on par with the so-called (unfortunately named) Idiot Savants, who are genius at one thing only & lacking most other skills for daily living.
Cody Lee of AGT fame comes to mind.

This gonna be looooonggg:
My first call was when we were moving horses to another state & my usually Easy Loader TB had taken exception to our brand new trailer.
Would.Not.Get.On!
On the barn’s notice board, I saw a newspaper article (yeah, that long ago) that mentioned Lydia Hiby.
I looked her up, and, as instructed, mailed a check (no other info, just the check).
Then made the required followup call the next week.
At first she couldn’t find my check, but agreed to do the reading anyhow.
Over the phone, her in CA, horse in the Midwest.
She asked me for location & to describe him - bay TB - and her first words were:
“He likes the chestnut mare in the next stall”
Last time I’d been to the barn there was a not-chestnut horse on one side, the stall on the other side was empty.
Mental Note: ??? Fake?
She then went on to say he liked the outside riding & taking chances.
We’d been doing a lot of trails instead of arena riding. I assumed the “chances” might mean our recent first HT, where he’d been brave jumping obstacles we’d never attempted: a small bank, log fences…
Okay, disbelief suspended
I asked about the trailer. No info, just asked what he thought about it.
His answer was he said it smelled like a trailer at the racetrack (he never raced, but worked as a Pony) that horses got on and never came back.
Track Ambulance?
Brand new rubber mats had a smell I’d noticed.
DH’s horse loaded fine.
When we had to move, I bought cheap apple potpourri & spread it in the shavings on the trailer.
He hesitated, then got on.
Also: next time we went to the barn there was a new boarder: Chestnut mare, stabled next to my TB.

The new barn was a Showplace.
Newly-built, state of the art everything…
About a month after we moved I gave DH a consult w/Liby for his horse as a birthday present.
She asked for his location & description.
I told her where & Strawberry Roan.
She laughed, said he’d told her “devastatingly handsome”
I asked how they liked the new barn.
“Sometimes dinner is late.”
Priorities

Moved to another barn & that’s where I lost DH to an accident. Probably syncope causing him to slide off his horse & land breaking his neck.
I worried his horse felt responsible & contacted Liby again.
Horse said he’d “tried to save Dad”, but knew it wasn’t his fault.
TB interrupted to say he missed him too.

Two yrs later, after I moved horses home, I spoke w/another communicator: Mary Long from MD.
Recommended by a friend of a friend.
She told me my farm had “the Sprit of horse”
Not ghosts, just a sense of Right.
I’d called to ask about the new to me TWH I’d got when DH’s horse had to be euthed shortly before my barn was ready.
He told her he hoped he could stay.
And that he’d liked Teasing, but no mares were here.
I was owner #6 after he was first sold as a 2yo, I got him at 10, he’d been gelded at 8. Had 1 TWHBEA registered Colt.
None of this was told to Mary.
My TB interrupted to ask if he should wear a halter so I could get him
I hadn’t mentioned he been hard to catch at the new barn.

I hope you can use any part of my stories.
& Look fwd to your book

[xQHDQ]

My very WB-bred KWPN told the animal communicator he wanted to be a barrel racer. Knowing his history, I don’t think he ever saw a Western horse, let alone a barrel racer. And, he’s not one to want to go fast - spook fast, yes, but extended gaits, he’s no racehorse.
With that said, she was VERY accurate with my dog and cat. At the time my dog was 2yo and cat 3yo; the cat (15lb) was attacking the dog (50lb), and I was desperate for help. She said 3 things that were scary accurate. 1) she said the dog was painful. I already had a vet appointment scheduled 3 days later b/c the dog was limping. In an older dog I would think it’s an educated guess but in a young dog, not likely (turned out to be growing pains). 2) both animals said they loved pizza night. At the time, once a week we made Bobali pizzi and the dog got the crust and the cat got some cheese. 3) When I was talking to my SIL about the problem with the dog and cat she asked what my goal was, which was me, my husband, the dog, and cat all sitting on the couch together watching TV; my SIL answered, “what do you want utopia?”. That because our saying around the house - “I just want utopia”. When the animal communicator talked to the cat, she said he told her I wanted “utopia,” and that she never had an animal use that word.
Not sure if the animal communicator had anything to do with it but the cat and dog now get along. Could also have been the veterinary behaviorist and tuna-flavored Prozac and training and time.

[DiamondJubilee]

I had a few really interesting readings, some of my own and some from others from my barn. From my barn - one horse told its owner that it was being very careful when she rode as she knew she was pregnant. The owner said “I’m not pregnant, I wonder where she got that from?”. She later took a pregnancy test and was in fact pregnant. Another horse told its kid that it hate being called “fat”. I know for a fact the kid always called her pony fat as she would say it every day when she was there.

Now my dog really put us on the spot lol! We moved farms but did not tell the communicator. We brought our dog to be read at my old farm and she stated that our dog Toby liked the new farm but a baby died upstairs at some point (we did not know the owners of the old farm but did meet them later on. A baby in fact did pass away in a bedroom upstairs). Toby also stated that he though it was funny we had to heat all of our food in a microwave (our stove was broken). He also thought it was funny that my husband had to go downstairs to go the washroom in the middle of the night (we don’t have plumbing upstairs, so the bathroom is indeed downstairs).

Lots of little funny things for sure! Hard to believe but really, how could she know all of this?? This communicator also works with the police on finding missing people. She is quite the character and I’m more of a believer for sure now.

[ParadoxFarm]

Okay, I’ll first say that this story comes from my trainer, not a personal experience. But I enjoyed the story. My trainer, a no-nonsense trainer from Austria had a client who bought an imported horse from Europe. The horse came here, and they could not get the horse to eat. This went on for a good while and the horse lost weight. They tried different feeds but nothing seemed to work. Finally, the owner decided to call an animal communicator. My trainer kind of rolled his eyes and shrugged. Well, the animal communicator called – I’m pretty sure this was all over the phone. She asked the owner a bunch of questions about the horse, etc. The next day, the owner asked my trainer to call his contact in Europe and ask if the horse had a specific feed bucket. So, embarrassingly, he called his contact and asked about the feed bucket. The breeder in Germany said he did have a specific feed bucket. They decided to have his old feed bucket shipped to the barn here in the U.S. They set it up, and immediately the horse started to eat.

I just love that story.

[Ghazzu]

I recall a particularly amusing tale from the old days of rec.equestrian in which an AC was at a stable to do some readings.
The poster was a skeptic but went along with the gig for entertainment purposes.
The group spent some time in the barn, nothing earthshattering was revealed, and the party adjourned to the house for drinks and snacks.
A few minutes later the barn owner asked if anyone had let the house cat out–all the boarders knew better. Cat was elderly with a medical condition.
The AC stated, “Oh, she was asking to go out, so I let her out.”
BO was quite concerned (Colorado in winter.)
At this point, the skeptic said, OK, if you can talk to the cat, ask her where she is."
AC: Oh they don’t actually talk in words; they show me pictures.
Skeptic: OK, then tell us what she’s seeing.
AC, flustered at this point: Oh, but she’s got her eyes closed.

[BlueDrifter]

I went along with AC readings at my barn. I rode english, but brought my appy out in a rope halter.

The AC could have said anything about english or western, based upon our appearnce, but she said my horse wanted to play polo.

There isn’t a polo barn within 50 miles. Seemed like a risky reading to me.

Next day I met the new boarder who showed me his horse’s roughed up fetlocks. He said he was a polo pony and here for rest and rehab. (!!)

So, we tried broomball with a beachball. He liked it – my arms got really sore.

Who knows, right??

[MunchingonHay]

I have two.

First one: same AC for both on the same day. One was a horse I was working/keeping fit in exchange for room and board and the other was my dog.

I turned the corner to come into the barn where the AC was with the BO and her barn full of horses. The AC was “talking” with Camelot, the horse I was working. She said the second he saw me, he called me the drill sargent and to tell me to stop making him work so hard. (he was a lazy sod and I would make him use his back end )

After all of the horses were “talked to” I asked if she would ask my dog why he is afraid of my dad who just wants to love him and be his friend. AC said that my dog could not see my dad’s eyes and Kip was not sure if he was trustworthy. My dad (who was hours away from us) wore transitional lenses and a baseball hat most days. When we went to see my dad the next time, I had him take his hat and glasses off. Kip curled up in his lap and finally accepted him. He and Kip became fast friends. (and this was YEARS of having my dog).

Its been over 15 yrs and to this day, my dad takes off his glasses and hat to greet dogs because Kip said so.

Second one: A different person claimed she was an AC while drunk at the bar with me one time and I handed her a photo of my horse (yes I carried it in my wallet at the time, this was way before cell phones) and asked her what she thought. She said, “he has pain in his left lower leg”. A year or two later, he was diagnosed with navicular in his left hoof.
The photo was of his head and neck. There would have been no way for her to see his lower legs.

[reefy]

Mine is short and sweet - I was desperate to figure out why I had such a hard time riding my TB gelding. He was either cuckoo under saddle or would stand and just not move. This was after maybe 4 years together and it had started decently enough - nothing physical was wrong with him that we could find. I had decided to sell him (dressage but he loved jumping, too) and really, that’s when he got really bad under saddle. It was just word of mouth through my trainer, I didn’t have him listed anywhere. And some ladies at the barn were talking with a local animal communicator so I said, gee I ought to talk to her. I did and she told me that he liked going to the ‘playground’, which was a field with some obstacles in it. Okay - not sure how she would know about that, maybe through the other ladies? Then she told me that he wanted me to stop saying he was for sale and that I was looking for a new home for him. He said it hurt his feelings because he was happy where he was. There was really no way this lady could know about that and I started crying because I did love the horse, I just didn’t love riding him at the time or sometimes having to handle him on the ground (spicy redhead TB). So I told my trainer we were stepping back and just doing fun things and that he wasn’t for sale. He turned into a lovely trail horse (surprise!) and low level dressage horse (he got up to 4th and also now not a surprise, he didn’t like the pressure). I really don’t know how she would know he was for sale so I’m still a little skeptical but kind of also believe in it!

[Laverne77]

After my good friend successfully used an AC to try to resolve some issues with her newly retired show horse I decided to set up an appointment with the same AC to find out what my gelding had to say. It was done over the phone. The first thing the AC commented on was that my horse was very “unconcerned.” That is probably the best adjective I’d ever heard to describe him. Among the topics we covered I asked how he liked my dog. He immediately responded that he did not like the red dog! A lady at the barn had a red coonhound that was very obnoxious. The AC asked about any other dogs, and he said he liked the dark colored dog just fine. I had a German shepherd with the traditional black topside.

[Hightale]

Bought my new horse and turned him out in the herd on 16 acres.
Discovered he was completely and wildly uncatchable. He would circle me in drilled fashion as if he was on the end of a rope or would panic and go through me if I managed to corner him.
No amount of sitting it out, offering feed, ignoring him etc, etc worked.
I had to bring every other horse in and then he’d charge in after them in a mad panic. I was distraught as I could see he was actually scared.
Contacted an AC that was recommended to me.
She had a few sessions talking to him, I discovered some awful stuff he’d been put through that I was actually able to independently corroborate through other people who’d worked at or bought horses from the same place.
After the third session the AC said that he was OK now, he’d been heard and he would trust me not to be like his previous owners / breeders.
That day I walked up to him in the middle of that field and popped a headcollar on him like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Absolutely nothing else had changed

[Jackjoe1]

A little off topic, but I am looking for a good AC. Could you please tell the names.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

I’ve had three horses read. I am a sceptic (or was), so I was careful to send photos (one per horse) to my AC that were “benign”. In each photo the horse was looking at the camera with a pleasant expression.

Horse # 1. This horse is a complete b*tch. Her nickname is the Great White Landshark. She was a talented jumper but started having trouble bending under saddle. My trainer was stumped, I was stumped, the mare was ANGRY. I had her read about three years ago, after having a vet palpate her for kissing spines and saying, nah it’s probably a training issue. The AC said the mare was super standoffish, and blocked her initial attempts to contact (the photo I sent was of a mare looking very soft and friendly). She said “Oh she knows WHO she is alright!”. She said her stomach was upset, but she was mainly experiencing pain on the right of her neck. We had had problems with the mare having gr3/4 ulcers in the past but the neck was a new thing. Three years later and the mare getting worse and worse, she was finally diagnosed with unilateral ECVM … on the right branch of the C6/C7 (transposition). The mare is super opinionated, with people never meeting her standards of behaviour.

After the diagnosis, I reached out to the AC to have two other horses read.

Horse #2: My Mane Man. She said “Oh he is such a lovely horse, very ‘look at me, look at me!’”. This horse is the boss, and is always in your face. He drops his doodle out and waves it around whenever he gets attention. He’s very smoochy. The AC said “he’s worried about being sold”. I had fallen off of him two years prior and still make statements about selling him to his face. The AC said “he is trying so hard to be a good boy but he is seeing ghosts”. He is stupidly spooky and cannot cope with trail riding at all - hence me wanting to sell him. We upped his magnesium, and now I am careful about what I say around him. I tell him he is a good boy and my mane man, and will not be sold - he is now much, much less spooky and when he does spook, I am able to cope by laughing and patting him. Our relationship has come in leaps and bounds under saddle.

I had also JUST bought a new horse. The AC didn’t know this. The horse was intended to be his trail riding replacement.

Horse # 3. New horse with issues. The AC Said, “Oh what a sweet girl. She wants you to know “it will all be OK””. I had been stressed about buying this new horse that turned out to be very difficult. The AC said her thorasic sling was exceptionally tight, and needed physio. The mare was so jammed up she walked like a pacer. The AC said “she’s been pulled down by a virus-like something. She’s not sick, but recovering from something”. The mare had just had her first ever HeV vaccination.

The AC was so spot on with all three horses, with no information given except a benign photo and the horse’s name. My relationship with the horses has changed for the positive, especially with my Mane Man.

[Aussie_2020]

Lydia Hiby

[2DogsFarm]

Lydia Hiby
I’ll ETA a link to her site:

https://www.lydiahiby.com/

[Seagram]

I have always wanted to try an AC with my horses! I have one horse with Kissing spine, that I wish could be rehabbed, but is sooooo reactive under saddle, I don’t want to risk dying if what i’m doing doesn’t work. I would love to ask the horse before getting on if this is a good day? I also have a dog that keeps running away, so is always tied up. Wish someone could explain to dog, if you stick around, you won’t have to be !!

[OkLurchers]

Not a story, but listened to a very interesting interview online that animal communicator Kumari did with Ann Kursinski, who evidently uses her services quite a bit.

[Arelle]

I’ve tried them twice, both times wanting to believe and both times being unimpressed.

First time, 2013, AC came on site - put hands on the horses. Told me my horse didn’t like “the boy” riding her. Went on a whole tirade about how she’d been unhappy lately because “the boy” just didn’t understand her.

My trainer is female. I’m female. No “boy” had ever ridden her, and there wasn’t even a male employed on the property in/around that time.

Second time, December 2023, AC did a virtual reading. This one came highly recommended from like, a dozen well known people on a pretty well respected FB group. Asked her to read my mare, but didn’t tell her the mare had been neurologic for about 45 days and I suspected either a neck fracture or a stroke.

She said my mare is very content, but her front feet hurt and feels like a good joint supplement would really be helpful for her.

So I’m back firmly on the “these people are hacks” train. I’m sure they probably feel like they’re legit, but to me - the biggest thing is for me to not react. Don’t give them any additional information, don’t tell them when they’re right or when they’re wrong. Just let them talk and see how accurate they are - or, how much they say things like “joint supplements would help the 25 year old horse” and people are amazed by their results.

[Foggy]

I go into each reading skeptical but each time there have been things that they just could not have known. Each time was a phone reading after sending a picture.

Horse #1, reading #1 photo looks like a big warmblood. He told her how he liked running and he was really good at it and got lots of awards. She couldn’t figure this out as it didn’t fit what she was seeing. He was an OTTB who was a stakes winner. So everything he told her made sense knowing that.
He said that he didn’t like the barn he had been sent to while the pony had his stall. Was at a training facility for a summer and yes a pony was in his stall while he was away.

Horse #1 Reading #2 he needed to go to the vet clinic to have a melanoma removed. Whenever he was away from home he would get worried and not eat like he should. I did the reading so I could let him know what was happening and that we really needed him to eat while at the vet clinic. On day 2 of his vet hospital stay they called to say I needed to bring him more hay. He had already gone through 3 bales. He was a big boy but that was way more than normal. Guess he got the message.

Horse #1 Reading #3 he had been diagnosed with a tumour in his nasal cavity. I had told no one this information other than my immediate family. She knew this, knew all about his scoping. He told her he need lots of tranq for the procedure which was very true. He also wanted to let me know he still felt okay and he would let me know when it was time to go.

Horse #2 I never did a reading with this horse while he as alive. I did a reading after he passed as he passed suddenly and I was not dealing with it very well. He told her that he wanted to make sure That I knew that he loved me. That he had had back pain and it was his back that was the problem on the day he died. (Was down and we could not get him up. Even when we had him in a sling he couldn’t stand on his own) He said that he still came to visit but he showed up too quickly and spooked the other horses, so he would come more slowly when he visited in the future. This sounded so much like him. After talking to him I was able to let some of the grief go and there are days I am certain he is there keeping an eye on things.

Horse #3, the new guy. I had his reading done the same day as Horse 2, so I wasn’t as focused on it. We didn’t know much about him and I don’t think there was much added from the communicator other than he was happy to be with us. I should do another reading now that focuses just on him.

According to the communicator horse #1 liked to talk a lot. I have pages of notes from my calls with her and him.