Why do we have animals so closely interwoven into our lives?
What are we learning from them?
What are they really trying to tell us?

Some of what you read in this article may be challenging for some. To understand these questions it will help to come to take the view that our lives are a complete mirror image reflecting back to us in detail, showing us to ourselves.
To understand this we need to remember that all of our individual lives – seen from our own perspectives no matter how many people, places, things or events that they consist of, are always a reflection of us.

They stem from and are put together by us so that we can through them, learn, grow, evolve and move to higher states of awareness. In other words it is through our experiences that we evolve, our beliefs change and our awareness expands. The animals that we attract into our lives are part of this experience.

Everything we attract into our lives is always an aspect of ourselves. We may have anger and fear present and healing from past pain is required. There may be undeveloped areas within us that need developing through the choices, actions and decisions we need to make with our animals. The animals are there to help us make changes within ourselves, to grow in areas of confidence, to become aware of our fears, anxieties and worries and to become love and feel it radiate back to us from them.
Many of us have simply to grow through the experiences that are taking place with our animals. We develop skills of focus, love, awareness, confidence and wisdom within ourselves through our interaction with our animals.

When my old dog died, that I had since she was eight weeks old, she left with me an awakened glimpse into her purpose of being with me. During the later years of her life, that was always healthy, she developed some health problems. I was desperate for her to heal and determined to get her well again, I did what I knew best and that was to fight, keep going don’t give in there is always a way how. In the end through a friend, I found a wonderful man from Sweden that correctly diagnosed her problem and then with magnet therapy had her nearly completely healthy again after just three months of therapy. All her life she was an extremely resilient, healthy and a very tough dog that came through everything on the up side. But she also displayed an amazing amount of patience with the many health issues she faced that had sent most other dogs insane. She spent the last 6 months of her life healthy. The day before she passed away as she collapsed to the floor I picked her up to help her back to her feet but had an overwhelming message from her that everything was going to be fine that I needed to let go and to learn how to surrender. This was a lesson I was learning throughout all areas of my life at the time but she confirmed it to me that surrendering was now needed and to stop fighting, not just for her but for everything I had in my life at the time.

We are constantly learning about us through what we need to do for them. One of the first truths I had to face during my training in Germany was that, it is never the horse’s fault it is always the rider. You immediately are put in full responsibility for yourself and what happens with the horse you are riding. Therefore any changes and growth that develops within the horse is inevitably always made through you – the rider. This awareness moves us from victim to creator. Be aware of the excuses made as to why things are the way they are as they only hold you into the chains of hopelessness and separation. Surrender to what is and the message of what to do will come to you.

Animals are vibrating at a very pure state but are also being affected by our energies. Depending on how closely we interact with them they will show behavior that is connected to the energies we are emitting. For example horses, some more sensitive to our energies than others, are constantly reading and responding to us on all levels- spiritual, emotional and physical. Our physical interaction and training with them is a part of how we are communicating with them and an important part at that, but everything we do is affected by our mental emotional and spiritual state. In other words even if our physical actions are all correct and in alignment with how they are educated, if we are experiencing any fear, doubt, anxiety, tension, worry or stress that sometimes even we are not aware of that are connected to other areas of our life, their behavior will immediately pick up on those energies and give us feedback as to what is going on within us at that moment of time. We experience resistance and tension from them because they are feeling energies of doubt, fear, worry, stress, anxiety or anger in us.

If someone has had a challenging time at work and their energies are on high tension, that ride that they face on that particular day can produce a very profound learning experience for them. The profound process that evolves through riding horses, is that once our inner blockages have been brought to the surface the horse allows us to move to the next level of awareness. It can be seen as a clearing out time where your ride flushes out negativity and propels you into a state of focus, peace, clarity and connects you to your higher self. In order to get anything happening the way they desire with the horse they will need to focus themselves and centre their core awareness thus developing the same power of focus that a Zen Buddhist monk has developed through years of meditation. What they learn through being with their horse then effects, over time and continued self training, all the other areas of their life. What you can usually put aside and not face about yourself through work, raising children or going out and complaining to friends about, can’t be hidden from the horse. The horse will give you your current truth without fail every time.

The particular animals that we have in our lives right now are there in order to allow an aspect of ourselves to be experienced or developed. This is neither wrong nor right or good or bad, they are simply levels of awareness that need to be brought to each person’s existence in order to move beyond them. Someone may be going through anger, guilt, suppression, pain, stress, worry, anxiety and all of these require an outlet that we may bring to the surface. These emotions are always leading to a deeper truth that needs to be understood and faced. Whatever we are facing or learning a situation will arise with that animal that requires us to develop in certain areas within our self.

Everything is always divinely put together and nothing is out of place in our lives. Every animal and every ‘problem’ you are facing right now with them is happening exactly as it needs to in order for you to grow. Even if you don’t understand it or like what is happening it has come to you for a specific reason unique to your individual evolution and will never be wrong for you. What is right now is exactly as it needs to be. Do something with it.

© Catherine Louise Birmingham