Horses have been on my mind for as long as I can think. In the beginning my parents thought it was cute and at every opportunity I was allowed to sit on a pony, later progressed to vaulting and then riding.
I never got a horse though and my parents were sure that as soon as I’d discover boys I’d stop being interested in horses. And while that is the case with many girls, it certainly wasn’t with me. Not the discover boys’ part, but the stop being interested in horses part, that just never happened with me.
The World Is Waiting
Despite this huge passion for horses, I didn’t however plan on working with horses, I had other interests, too, and so opted for studying geology/palaeontology. I bought my first horse with money I had been saving for years for exactly that purpose right when I started university. When I was done with uni, degree in my pocket, I set out to work all around the world, with my horse in tow.
The Turning Point
And while back at home in my native Germany, I knew who I could turn to for help in case of a health issue with my horse. Those people, or rather their experience and skills, didn’t exist in all the countries I was living and working in.
It was at this point that I thought “I’ll have to learn this myself”. Being me, if I do something I’ll do it properly, so I set out to study pulse-controlled laser-acupuncture.
Pulse-Controlled Laser-Acupuncture
I had come in touch with that technique years ago, when my horse had a health problem and I had taken her to specialist vets and other therapists. The last thing I hadn’t tried out yet at the time was acupuncture.
Since needles were a big no for my horse, I went to this vet who worked with a laser. He invented this special technique, and it blew me away what he achieved with it, when everyone else before him, all the other treatments had failed to help my horse.
So back then I had thought, should I ever feel like wanting to learn something to do with horses, it’ll be this technique. And here I was now, studying that technique, at the only school that was allowed to teach that technique.
I loved it and was thrilled to be able to help my horse myself and not to have to depend on other people. For that was my reason for doing this, purely to be able to help my own horse. No intention whatsoever to turn this into a business and help other people’s horses.
Things Have a Habit of Taking on a Life of Their Own
Once I was done with acupuncture, I studied various other horse health and training related things, just out of interest really. But already at this time I had begun to treat and help other people’s horses, because as soon as people saw what I was doing they wanted me to do the same on their horses.
I continued to work as a geophysicist though, continued to travel a lot, and just did the horsey thing on the side. Even when I was on holiday, and a lot of my holidays are horse related, I ended up treating or training horses. Funnily enough I never went there with the intention of doing so, it just happened when people heard about what I could do. Whether it was treating horses in Austria, (even though I went there myself to further my education on rehab training for horses) or helping horses in India (when I really only went there to ride across Rajasthan) or ending up doing a health check on a horse at an animal market in Armenia for a local horse guide, my work was in demand.
Going Full-time
So, when I finally set out on my own at the end of 2020 leaving the world of employment behind, it was only natural to say that I would be self-employed not only as a geologist, but also as holistic horse health expert and rehab trainer for horses.
This has meant having to establish myself yet again in another country, because I returned to my native Germany, which wasn’t that straightforward seeing as that was right during the pandemic. But things are gaining traction.
I not only continue to treat and train horses locally, I’ve also got various online services that I came up with in order to be able to help people who live in countries where help isn’t readily available.
Another big stepping-stone is my trying to get my foot in the door with big equestrian organizations to offer talks, workshops and clinics, and it’s looking quite promising so far.
The Future
My big vision is to make the world a better place for horses – by educating owners and by getting them to understand that they are responsible for their horse’s health.
That’s how things can go, from accidentally stumbling into something to having a big vision.
90% of the horses that come to me for help have been given up on by vets and other practitioners, and thus far I’ve managed to turn things around for the horses. Not always to full health, but to better health than they’ve come to me with.
So, I’ve kind of come full circle to how it started: the vet who invented pulse-controlled laser-acupuncture, well, 90% of his patients are also horses that have been given up on by vets and other practitioners. I feel in good company this way and it gives me immense joy to work with horses and observe their genuine reactions, and best of all to see them feel better and improve.
by Silke Bude, Holistic Horse
Silke Bude is a geologist/palaeontologist and geophysicist she has thus far lived and worked in 18 different countries, she speaks 8 different languages, also works as holistic horse health expert and rehab trainer for horses helping horses worldwide, is active as a playwright and actor on London’s stages, every so often works as analogue photographer, and, in her role as coach, mentor and keynote speaker, is motivating people to break out of conventions to live the life they want.
You can check out the ‘Holistic Horse’ website here
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