On Horses and Healing…
Sweden is of course more than just magical light, colourful houses and picturesque lakes. It has a long history, a lot of cultural life and vibrant cities such as Stockholm and Gothenburg. However, there are also people who make something special out of the power and magic of its nature. On our current trip, we were lucky enough to meet one such person and her very special work.
In Bollebydg, not far from Gothenburg, but still very much in the countryside, we met up with Kerstin for a special kind of walk. Actually, of course, I should say we met Kerstin and her animals. Among other things, Kerstin offers visitors a unique walk through the beautiful and mystical forest in the area – but with her horses.

Although this simplification is not really appropriate. Because it’s more than just an outing with horses – but no riding, by the way! It’s more an idea to rediscover your own inner peace in the tranquillity of nature and with these wonderful animals. Consequently, she calls her programme Horse n’ Heal (only in Swedish – perhaps easier to understand on her Instagram account).
We took part in the approximately half-day walk (bookable via AirBnB) and I would like to tell you something about it here – mostly in pictures, of course, as always. And I’m referring more to how we felt during the walk. It’s not a documentary or a background report on the subject – just a personal experience.
The idea is as simple as it is brilliant. It is about taking some time out for yourself and spending it in the forest and with the horses. There are no targets, no fixed route, no pressure to learn or succeed. You don’t have to learn to ride, lead animals or anything like that. The horses go on their own and actually set the pace and route as far as possible.
But let’s start with the main characters… the horses!

Oops, I almost forgot, there was another main protagonist too… her dog Rosie.

After an introduction to the animals – especially their characters – and a short briefing on how we should best behave towards them, we headed into the forest. That meant us with Kerstin, Rosie the dog and the four horses…











And so began our short but wonderful “journey”… we went on a short hike, now faster, now slower… at the pace of the horses. Sometimes they ran ahead so that we lost visual contact, sometimes they were with or directly behind us…







… and all this through a forest whose ground was covered in moss and you really thought that elves were about to come round the corner.
During the break on a bed of moss – and of course with coffee and the obligatory cinnamon buns – Kerstin explained more about the idea behind the whole thing.









I don’t want to go into too much detail here, but in very simple terms it’s about two things. To slow down and feel yourself again – without expectations of anything. And about how nature and horses can help you do this.
The latter in particular – regardless of the theory behind it – is really fascinating. There is something incredibly calming about being together with large animals and hiking. I can’t explain it, but the warmth and calm energy of the animals seems to be transferred to us humans.

I don’t think it matters why exactly this happens – but it does happen. I can only recommend everyone to try an experience like this – even if it’s only for a short time like this one. Or even on a multi-day hike with horses or donkeys.
Does it really have a healing effect? I don’t know… but it certainly has a very calming and happy-making effect. That alone can be very healing.









At least it was quite hard to say goodbye to these four wonderful horses – after just a few hours.



Once again, a big thank you to Chilaili, Fame, Louie and Buster – and of course to Kerstin and Rosie.

So beautiful that you came and shared a magical day together with ius.
We are so pleased that you appreciated the meeting and we know that it will be a memory for life.
Lots of love peace and understanding from Rosie the Horses and me.
Enjoy life! 🙏❤️
Hi Kerstin,
thanks for your comment and keep on your great doing…
Peter
I do appreciate the story that makes a lot of sense, but I personally would disagree with most of the pictures that aren‘t really descriptive. And, honestly, I disagree withe the colours. Images should always either support a story in feature-writing, in your case expressing peace and calmness more the blurriness or simply being out of focus. It just doesn‘ support the philosophy of one camera, one lens.
Hello Christian,
Thank you for reading and for the comment. Anyone who knows me is aware that I also appreciate critical comments and like to think about them and reflect on my actions. However, that doesn’t mean that I always agree with other opinions.
In this case, for example, I hardly understand your comment and don’t share your opinion either. First of all, I would like to make it clear that my post was in no way intended to be anything like journalistic – in fact, not even really documentary. I came across this offer during my holiday and enjoyed the hours. And I took MY kind of pictures, from MY point of view, with MY colours, MY feeling. The pictures are certainly not brilliant, and that wasn’t the intention of the day. But for me they reflect the mood and my view of the tour well. If you feel differently, that’s OK. Different eyes, different view.
You don’t like the colours? That’s up to you, I like it. And by the way, it’s far less unrealistic than you might think – the green in the forest already looked very much like this. But that’s not the point… for me it expresses the fairy-like atmosphere in the forest well. I didn’t intend to document this tour realistically in pictures.
I also don’t see that there should only be one function and one way of what images should support and how exactly. Images don’t always have to be strictly descriptive. There are many ways to speak in pictures. This chosen one was one of them…
And last but not least, I don’t understand your last sentence either. What do these images and this little article have to do with my general one camera – one lens approach? For me, honestly, nothing at all. Perhaps we have a different understanding of it…
As is so often the case, it’s good that there are different people and different opinions. No offence intended…
Peter
Hey people!!!!!
Good mood and good luck to everyone!!!!!
😉