Beate Sommer with Rose – horse friend, guide and mentor.
Staying true to her love for horses has allowed horse-lover, psychotherapist and artist Beate Sommer to create a life which includes all her passions – and in the process she has created an unique healing tool – a deck of 31 Authentic Voice horse cards, to summon the spirit of the horses whenever it’s needed.
Turning into Beate Sommer’s property, Aurora Valley, it’s easy to make the assumption that she’s named her homestead after the goddess of dawn – after all, her house looks straight towards the east. But Sommer, who moved into her beautiful home in the hills behind Byron Bay in 2000, says that is not the only reason for the name.
“I actually have a childhood memory of sneaking a German treat called Aurora when my mum wasn’t looking,” she says. “Also there’s the word ‘aurore’ which means dawn, and of course we do get the most magnificent sunrises here.”
Sommer, who was born in Ravensburg, South Germany, moved to Australia in 1986 and settled in the Byron area, where she has lived ever since. A horse lover from her childhood, in the past few decades she has turned more and more towards natural horsemanship, and has recently acquired the Equinistic Healing Certification from Liz Mitten Ryan from Equinisity in Canada.
What she’s found during her years of study on the relationship between horse and human is that horses have made her a better person. “Definitely,” she says. “My family and friends tell me so, and I can tell. Even the horses tell me! Not that I was a bad person before – I’ve always treated my horses well and looked for more considerate, softer and natural ways of training them but over the years I’ve discovered natural horsemanship, bitless riding and barefoot trimming. More recently my energetic connection with horses has gone to another level entirely.”
As her two daughters grew up and moved away, Sommer found herself with more time to study, photograph and be with her horses, and gradually, from that experience has come her most recent project – Horses and Nature as a Path to Awakening, a beautiful pack of 31 cards, which she calls: “Daily inspiration and practical wisdom straight from the horse’s mouth for heart centred emotional intelligence.”
Each card features her own photography, and the pack and accompanying book have been a labour of love, reflecting Sommer’s increasing understanding of horses and how they live. “The cards have emerged over the past couple of years,” she says. “They grew with me as I grew. The card deck marries my passion for horses, nature, healing, spirituality, photography and writing in one package, and I think that’s why people are responding to them so strongly, because they are heartfelt.”
A lot of people don’t really understand the complexity of horse relationships, according to Sommer – often not even noticing how their horses interact with one another, and mirroring, she believes, how little we often understand about our own human relationships. “My five horses live together in a herd so they can hang out with each other, groom each other, run and play with each other and experience the social interaction so vital for their wellbeing,” she says. “They live as a cohesive herd as close to their natural life as is possible in captivity.”
As well as strong local sales in bookshops and gifts shops, Sommer is finding that practitioners and participants of any form of equine therapy are being drawn to the cards, as well as people who are on a spiritual path – or even more simply, those who enjoy looking at beautiful photographs of horses. “I believe that these cards also prompt horse owners, trainers and riders to look at their horses through different eyes and that both human and horse benefit from that,” she says. “I think these Authentic Voice Cards have the potential to open the door to the field of equine therapy and learning for people who are not yet familiar with this powerful healing modality.”
For Sommer, part of her learning from horses, rather than teaching them, has been to give up the idea of ‘control’. “When I gave up ego centered training and began to go to my horses with genuine inquiries such as ‘What will we learn from each other today?’ and ‘What wants to happen?’ obstacles turned into challenges which became stepping stones,” she says. “The door into the world of magic with horses flew wide open. Now the journey is the destination and each moment is filled with wonder, joy and gratitude.”
‘Being’ with Buffalo…no saddle, bit or bridle
Opening herself to the idea that the horses could lead her, rather than her lead the horses, has had some surprising results. “I let myself be guided by the horses and where they like to be at certain times of the day, which has led me to explore the energy centres, or chakras of my land by going ‘walkabout’ on it,” she says. “I can really notice the difference in the energy when you are sharing space with the herd in certain spots, and so that’s led me to think about how people can benefit from that kind of animal and land guided meditation, which is so different to our human decision-making process.”
Sommer believes that horses can be powerful teachers on the journey back home to our true nature. “I remember many years ago, during a Vipassana Retreat, I had the opportunity to ask a Japanese Zen Buddhist Monk one important question. My question was: ‘What is sin?’ He said to me ‘The only sin there is, is not to be happy.’ We lose sight of the fact that our true nature is joy,” she says. “I believe at this time the horses are intentionally choosing to work with humans to help raise awareness, remove energetic blocks, increase energy levels, recreate balance and lift our frequency.”
Beate Sommer runs Aurora Valley Take Time to Smell the Horses near Bangalow, Northern NSW. She is a qualified Core Energetics Psychotherapist, who then furthered her studies in the USA with Kathy Pike from Coaching with Horses and with Liz Mitten Ryan from Equinisity in Canada.She is also a Reiki Practitioner and has studied Kinesiology, Nonviolent Communication, Co-Counselling and Heart Intelligence. Of her work she says: “In our guided sessions you are invited to enter the silence, stillness and sacredness of sharing space with the Herd to access your own innate wisdom. You can also experience Equine Facilitated Energy Healing, participate in an Equine Coaching session or practice Natural Horsemanship incorporating emotional energy and awareness.” The Authentic Voice Cards were published in 2014, The Year of the Horse. For further information please visit her website at: www.taketime2smellthehorses.com
