Hold Your Horses

In a unique equine experience, one local organization invites you to “Hold Your Horses” and join them for a sunset meditation in the company of horses.

Hold Your Horses, started by partners Kim Godby and David Macias, hosted their first sunset meditation session with horses last spring. Godby, who’s worked in equine therapy for over five years, shared that she was inspired by someone offering a similar experience in New York. 

“They did a meditation session with the horses in an enclosed barn or arena but barricaded the horses on the other side of a fence, and the people couldn’t interact with them,” Godby explained. This inspired her to try out her own form of horse meditation, where the horses and people are together in the same area interacting and bonding. 

Starting out with a few of her own horses and five people, mostly friends and family, the idea quickly grew from there. 

“People were hungry for some sort of connection, the peacefulness that comes from practices like meditation, and the ability to get out in nature and take a break from the computer screen,” she said.

During these sessions, the horses snack on hay, walk around, and play with each other and sometimes even guests. Meanwhile, the people experience a guided meditation as the sun sets, often accompanied by a sound bath. 

Godby reports that their meditation sessions sold out all summer long last year, despite the heat and the pandemic. People felt safe and comfortable and enjoyed being outside with others and with the horses. 

Hold Your Horses commits itself to help the community heal and grow through the power of horses.

Why Horses?

According to the HYH website, documented research shows positive physical and psychological results from humans interacting with horses.

This includes reduced blood pressure and heart rate; lower levels of stress; decreased feelings of tension, anxiety, anger, and hostility; and increased levels of beta-endorphins and beneficial feelings of self-esteem, empowerment, patience, and trust.

This site explains that because horses are prey animals and must evade predators to survive, they evolved to be extremely sensitive to their environment. This allows them to observe and react to our body language and other nonverbal cues. They’re keenly aware of their surroundings and the emotions and actions of their herd, instinctively providing immediate feedback to the participants and facilitators.

In addition, Godby shared that she really enjoys being able to offer the connection of horses to people and see how that connection benefits people, often by helping them calm their anxiety or by building up their self-esteem. 

“People will often come out and be afraid in the beginning,” she said. “But as they spend more time with the horses, they relax and start to enjoy spending time with them.”

The Hold Your Horses Experience

When I reached out to Hold Your Horses to cover them, Godby offered me the opportunity to experience everything firsthand. So, I attended their Mothers’ Day session on the evening of May 8th.

The Sights

The Set-up

As the sun set, I arrived at the location in Old Henderson and walked up to the side of a beautiful house with horse corals in the backyard. I saw a couple of horses in separate stalls and three together in a large surround used for the meditation session. 

After checking in, I was shown some absolutely beautiful necklaces, all handmade by Kim Godby herself. 

Varying in style and color, they ranged from ones with feathers and beads even to one with a tiny charm shaped like a book. The young woman checking people in explained that, for $15, we could pick one out and place it on a horse of our choosing that we felt a connection with. It would absorb the horse’s energy during the session, and then we take it home with us afterward. 

After much difficult deliberation over several minutes (as they were all so beautiful!) I finally selected which one I wanted and made my way into the session area with the other participants. 

A ring of chairs set up in a circle encompassed a large purple blanket in the center, with a large gong and a couple of smaller instruments, several Himilayan salt crystals weighing down the corners, and a basket of small tumbled crystals. At the head of the circle, a table with different-sized white crystal bowls used for sound healing sat waiting.

The Horses

On the outside of the circle, piles of hay were placed for the three beautiful horses we’d be sharing the session with to eat. The first horse I saw was a dark brown gelding named Zorro, followed by a dappled palomino gelding named Bobby. Last but not least, a black and white mare named Misty. 

They contentedly munched on hay while people pet them and even returned the curiosity to some of those interacting with them. Not having much experience with horses, I found myself momentarily nervous approaching the large animals, though that quickly subsided as I met Misty. As I patted her, David Macias told me that she’s their most well-behaved horse.

“While most horses you’d never want to approach from behind for risk of them kicking you, Misty will actually turn around and back up to you, so you’ll scratch her on the rump,” he explained. He added that she’s especially great with kids; and very tolerant and careful with them. With the session starting, I chose Misty to put my amulet around and took my seat. 

Godby explained that the horses help with the meditation session by showing us how to master presence and being. They present themselves fully and honestly at all times, providing a connection to the natural world and help us ground ourselves. 

Our Guide for the Evening

After Godby welcomed us, she introduced a woman named Svetlana Esposito as our guide for the evening, who then described how the session would go. 

Using a mixture of Reiki, meditation, crystal healing, sound therapy, and certain aromas like sage and essential oils, Esposito explained how she appeals to the different elements. Through these mediums, she’d help improve our energy, assist us in releasing the weight of things holding us down spiritually, and create a space of peace and calm for ourselves. 

Before she started the session, she spent some time explaining crystal healing practice and then told us that each of us would pick a crystal out of the basket and hold onto it during the meditation. Walking around to each of us individually with the basket, she let us choose the stone that stood out to us the most and then explained the symbolism and energy associated with that particular crystal. 

I ended up feeling drawn to a pretty green crystal with white lines called malachite. As it turned out, many people at the session picked the same type of stone as me. Esposito said that this particular crystal aligns with “the heart chakra and heals emotional trauma.” 

After everyone picked their crystal, she instructed us to hold them in our left hand to receive certain energies during the session. She told us to plant our feet firmly on the ground and focus on our breathing.

We closed our eyes as she started the session.

The Sounds 

My other senses took over with my eyes shut while I focused on my breathing and listening to Esposito guide us. 

With a calm, soothing voice, she went over things to accept into our lives, like calmness and happiness, and energies to let go of fear, doubt, or pain. 

Chimes & Ambiance

After some time, an ethereal-sounding chime started from where the circle of people began. I soon realized that it was actually two chimes I was hearing and that they were slowly making their way around the circle, getting closer every minute or so. The sound they made appeared to alternate between coming together and then moving apart, back and forth, as Esposito went to each of us.

When Esposito reached me, and I heard the chimes up close, it gave me chills. The vibrations they created seemed to resonate with my very bones in a pleasant manner. She repeated the chimes around me a couple of times before moving onto the next person.

As she continued to the next person, I kept focusing my breathing using the sound of the chimes. We heard an occasional snort of one of the horses now and then, along with their ongoing munching of hay. Birds chirped as the twilight darkened, and one nearby made a sound almost as if it were laughing. Dogs in the neighborhood barked occasionally. The breeze lightly rustled the trees and bushes. 

Altogether, a lovely ambiance of natural noises mixed with this ethereal, delicate sound of the chimes. 

Crystal Bowls

After making her way around the circle and providing more verbal guidance, Esposito then began the next phase of the session with the sound bath. At the table with the crystal bowls, she used an instrument to circle the lip of the bowls to produce a ringing sound of varying sound and intensity. The different bowls ranged in size, which altered the pitch they made when she circled them. 

Once again, I found myself feeling the vibrations of the sound within myself soothingly. I soon matched my breathing to the ringing of the bowls, as I anticipated when Espositio was preparing to let the ringing drop off before she moved to another bowl. 

Gong

After the crystal bowls, she then moved onto the next instrument – the big gong in the center of the circle. She began to play it very slowly and lightly, to where at first it almost whispered its sound to us. 

I’d never heard a gong played in such a manner before; only the classic sound of it when struck very hard. This was something else, a purely sublime sound that seemed to pull from within in an almost otherworldly sense. Like an ancient feeling that existed inside me almost. 

Even more than the other two instruments, as Esposito played the gong, I could physically feel the vibrations of the sound waves passing through me in exquisite resonance. It reminded me of a cat purring, from the sound you hear and feel to the warm, relaxed feeling you get when one is sitting in your lap. I felt it in the middle of my chest, and it nearly took my breath away at times. 

The sound slowly tapered off as Esposito finished playing it. A stark silence followed, broken by the sound of one of the horses snorting and walking around—a perfect end to a lovely session.

Esposito finished the session by sharing some affirmations with us, thanked us for letting her guide us that evening, and invited us to play with the instruments and visit with the horses some more. 

Godby presented all of us with a rose as an extra gift in honor of Mothers’ Day.

The Smells

As expected in a place with horses, there were certain natural smells to take in while we meditated. Even though the facility was very clean, there was some fresh manure around.  Surprisingly, I found that the smell of horse and manure to be earthy and, dare I say even, good? I definitely didn’t expect that, but it actually ended up helping me keep my focus, especially during the quiet parts of the session. Something about the earthy smell mixed with the fresh desert air relaxed and grounded me and cleared my mind. 

When I mentioned this to Godby, she responded with, “You must be a horse person, then!” 

In addition, Esposito also used a couple of different scents throughout the session. In between the chimes and crystal bowls, she walked around the circle while burning sage. The smokey, woody smell was also very relaxing. And in between the bowls and the gong, she went around the circle spraying a blend of essential oils with a lovely flowery scent. 

Mixed together throughout the evening, the different smells made a wonderful addition to the session.

The Sensations

Among all the senses that felt activated during the session, a few other sensations also amplified throughout.

For one, as I held the crystal in my hand, feeling the tumbled smoothness acted as an anchor of sorts for when my mind started to wander. Remembering the stone in the palm of my hand from time to time put me back on track. 

As I mentioned, throughout the sound bath, the instruments produced vibrations that I could feel in and around me in different ways, almost tickling but not. In my mind, as the waves resonated, I could almost imagine different geometric shapes associated with the waves. Though, I have been looking more into sacred geometry lately, so that wasn’t too surprising. But they felt evident in my mind’s eye. 

After the session itself, I felt incredibly calm and relaxed. I experienced such an outstanding meditation session.

And, of course, spending some time with the horses petting them provided an even more therapeutic feeling. Feeling their coarse hair and warm bodies as I patted them down felt very grounding. 

When one stopped to share an interest in me, I felt a sense of magic as they looked into my eyes with curiosity and calm acceptance.

And, it was fun to watch the horses, particularly Zorro, who at the end of the session decided to really let loose and start upping the antics by checking everyone and everything out. 

Hold Your Horses – An Extraordinary Experience

Altogether, the session was a unique, spectacular experience that I thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to attend. 

In addition to the uniqueness of the experience itself, Godby explained that no two sessions are the same. Various occasions coinciding with different moon phases and astrological events, types of activities, and mixes of different therapies diversify the sessions. 

In addition, Hold Your Horses offers sessions with various types of meditations guided by four or five different people they work with. Like Svetlana Esposito, everyone brings something different to the service. Even the facilitators themselves switch things up from time to time. 

Coming up this week, HYH is doing a yoga session for kids with the horses on the 9th and a sunset sound healing meditation on the 10th. Both of these events cost $35 to attend. (Click the links to purchase your tickets!)

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Other Programs and Services Hold Your Horses Currently Offers

Along with the mediation sessions, Hold Your Horses provides a few other amazing programs currently available. 

Educational Programs

Hold Your Horses offers several programs to help students learn reading and math skills and assist them in overcoming the social-emotional challenges that could interfere with their learning. 

This includes Horse Powered Life Skills for Teens and Preteens and Horse Powered Reading and Math.

Youth Meditations

Hold Your Horses also offers meditation sessions specifically designed for children and young adults. 

“When you give your children the gift of learning meditation, it will serve them for the rest of their lives!” Godby explained. “Meditation is introduced in short intervals, along with plenty of time for interacting with horses and other fun, mindful activities.”

Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy and Learning

Also in individual and group sessions, Hold Your Horses offers Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) and Equine-Assisted Learning (EAL) sessions with their horses.

According to the website, EAP is a very effective client-based, solution-focused experiential modality of psychotherapy. It is a collaborative effort between a mental health professional and a horse professional working with the clients and horses to address treatment goals. This therapy program helps treat all forms of addiction, trauma, relationship matters, and social and behavioral issues. 

While very similar to EAP, EAL is used more often in educational, team-building, and personal development applications. But the model and standards of EAGALA remain the same in both types of services.

Furthermore, the site states that experiential modalities like EAP/EAL allow participants to learn about themselves and others by participating in activities with the horses. They then process (or discuss) thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, and patterns. The client is actively engaged intellectually, emotionally, socially, soulfully, and/or physically throughout the process. The results of the interactions are personal and form the basis for future experiences. 

The insight gained is very valuable, as it includes the opportunity to learn from natural consequences, mistakes, and successes. During each session, the EAGALA team supports clients, provides physical and emotional safety, and facilitates the process.

Horsemanship 101

The Horsemanship 101 program consists of four individual one-hour sessions covering the basic elements of horse care. This includes grooming, anatomy, body language, and riding. 

Please contact HYH to schedule a session by calling Kim Godby at 702-580-7192 for more information.

Faculty and Corporate Team-building

Hold Your Horses also uses EAL for a faculty and corporate team-building exercise program. 

According to the website, EAL is at the cutting edge of leadership training, team-building, and corporate development. Activities with the horses challenge participants to work as a team to find solutions through positive communication and cooperation. It is a powerful and effective approach that has a lasting impact on the individuals and the team. 

Hold Your Horses’ Biggest Goals and Challenges

As Hold Your Horses grows, Godby shared a little about what her present goals and challenges are for the business.

Goals

Ultimately, she said she wants to reach more people and offer what they have to a larger audience. She also plans to expand and offer even more programs, especially for kids.

Part of that expansion includes partnering with a recreation group that’s part of the City of Henderson to offer a program to adults with disabilities such as autism. 

“We did our first meditation session with them recently and have them scheduled for one event a month through September,” Godby said. 

HYH is also hosting a ‘Horse Discovery’ opportunity with the City of Henderson on June 12 and July 17th from 6:30-7:30 pm, and Horse Meditation on August 7th at the same time. Both of these events cost $35. 

Challenges

For the most part, she reported that their biggest challenge is working around the weather and summer heat. Rain, wind, and high temperatures have the potential to cancel an event since it’s held outdoors. 

Over the past year, they’ve learned to “go with the flow” and make decisions based on the situation as necessary. 

“Sometimes we go ahead and do it anyway if we feel it’s safe and appropriate for the guests and the session,” Godby said. She shared an example of a meditation session Svetlana was guiding where it started raining. 

“We had a fire pit burning when the rain started, so we brought it under the shelter and continued the session,” she said. The added ambiance of the rain falling on the metal awning and the crisp, fresh smell of rain provided a special treat for the participants. 

#GetinMotion With Hold Your Horses

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the company of some amazing animals while you practice self-care at Hold Your Horses. 

Follow them on Instagram at @holdyourhorseslv and @horsemeditationlv. Follow them on Facebook @holdyourhorsesLV and @horsemeditationlasvegas for news and updates on upcoming events. 

Contact Hold Your Horses by email at horsemeditationlv@gmail.com or holdyourhorseslv@gmail.com with any questions or call at (702) 580-7192.

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