Why the long face?

Sharon Du'Nasemant with Tesaro Halado. Photo / Chris Skelton

Is your pony panicky, your stallion sad or your mare mad? Sharon Du'Nasemant could be the answer to your prayers.

The horse breeder is among a select group of Kiwis to offer an equine spiritual healing service.

"I've been doing psychic healing for people for years," says the 51-year-old. "But animals can be traumatised too."

The Canada-born mother of six, who has lived here for 20 years, began by healing her own horses. En route to New Zealand 11 years ago, her Peruvian Paso stallion Tesaro Halado became upset after two days in a truck on the way to the quarantine station in Chicago.

"He was so traumatised that by the time he got [there] they contacted me and said they thought they were going to have to put him down."

But Tesaro Halado made it to New Zealand, where he was healed by Du'Nasemant. He is incredibly docile, but still dislikes going in horse floats.

The healing is a hands-on process involving "chakras", or energy centres, a concept found in traditional Indian medicine.

Horses have eight chakras that correspond to different areas, says Du'Nasement, who lives and works in Waiuku, southwest of Auckland.

By putting her hands on each, she says she can heal the horse of whatever is troubling it. At the same time she says she communicates telepathically with the animal.

"They get more and more docile and they actually communicate back. If they're sad, you actually feel the emotion."

Her technique is different from the method made famous in The Horse Whisperer, the 1998 film about Monty Roberts, who found a way to communicate with horses partly through their natural body language.

But Du'Nasement says the popularity of the movie, starring Robert Redford and Sam Neill, has helped make people more open to what she does.

Robin Marshall, who runs the website horsetalk.co.nz, says there are several horse healers and communicators in New Zealand and they seem to do fairly well. "It's another avenue for people to try. Often it's a last resort."

One is Bill Northern, an American "animal communicator" who specialises in horses. He spends several months at his property in Rakaia and holds popular clinics around New Zealand.

Du'Nasemant's next move is to start a horse therapy group to help people who lack confidence around the animals. She will use Tesaro Halado, the first Peruvian Paso in New Zealand.

The breed was developed by ranchers in Peru more than 500 years ago for its smooth ride.

"He's perfect because he's so laidback; he wouldn't hurt a flea."