Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung stressed the importance of becoming aware of the shadow self. According to Jung, the shadow is the unconscious complex characterized by the repressed, denied, or disowned parts of the self. It is, essentially those things that a person does not accept about himself or herself. Further, as this uncomfortable part of the self is often denied, it is also often projected onto others, which according to Jung is why a person should bring the shadow self into the conscious awareness. That is, to avoid projecting it onto others. However, this is clearly more easily said than done, as for some people, the existence of a shadow self alone is itself a scary concept. One can only imagine then the difficulty most therapists face in attempting to help a person accept the unwanted parts of themselves. So just imagine then how this might go in the arena with a 1200 pound animal.

For horses, there is no such thing as a shadow self. There is only the self — as is. There is no such thing as disguised material. Horses simply don’t have the time for this. As the eloquent stress researcher Robert Sapolsky says, “When your insides are hanging out, and the enemy is upon you, it is just not the time to worry about what your friends think of you.” This may seem a bit elementary or even primitive to some, but for a horse, it is daily reality. Survival, even for the domesticated horse, is still a foremost concern. That being said, herd communication among a group of equines must reflect this prominent need to survive. And guess what? Evasive communication just doesn’t cut it. So for a horse, neither does ours.

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