The Hoof and Paw Tree of Needs

This is how I teach to my students in my Hoof and Paw Academy: I put the emotional needs first. It may not be the normal conventional theory but it has worked well for me over the last 14 years.

For animals to feel safe and relaxed, they need to have certain needs met and preferably in the order listed above. At the root of the tree, you have the emotional needs. A tree with strong roots will be able to withstand anything that blows their way. Meeting the emotional needs of your animal is key to keeping your animal well balanced and safe. This is the root and pathway to all your animal’s happiness. If an animal is fearful or grief-stricken, they are going to care little about their survival and the need to find food. The will, however, need to urinate/defecate, drink and sleep. But this will be very difficult if their emotional and safety needs are not met first. An animal that is stressed will spend most of its time living on its nerves, pacing or may even have shut down completely. I have worked with horses that have lived in the most appalling conditions with little food or water. One given the security of a loving home; it is then that their whole system shuts down. It is almost as if they have been hanging on until their safety needs are met so they an die in peace. Would this end have been different if they had been treated with essences before they found their safety?

When we move on to the second need of our animal, which is safety, many would have thought it to have been the first; therefore, it is so interesting to understand the Hoof and Paw Tree of needs when working with the Bailey, Bach and Verbeia Essences. The essences support an animal who is fearful, while they learn to cope with their fears in any of the situations that are making the frightened. When you look at a tree you can see that the roots need to be the strongest and grow widest, so that they can support the rest of the tree behaviours. When an animal feels happy, safe and secure, they will be able to successfully groom, move and can become social with other animals and humans

If you had put social, movement and grooming as the most important behaviours, then you would have an upside-down tree. This would of course be very unstable, causing the tree to topple over and crash to the ground. Then of course you would have a dead tree! Making sure that our animal’s emotional needs are met and that they are the foundation of an animal’s happiness is the magic concrete underpinning your animal’s wellbeing.

You must remember that our animals are living in a society that has changed considerably over the last 50 years. It has become almost unrecognisable to both animals and humans. The food is now processed, the cities are polluted and the green fields destroyed by building new homes Understandably animals are displaying mote and more mental health issues because we have forgotten the basics of how to look after the and how to support their daily needs.

Bailey, Bach and Verbeia Essences are the perfect ‘safe’ therapy to support the myriad of behaviours that our animals are displaying. All the essences have a beautifully untouched energy that is pure and very honest. This is because they are made by hand and not in an automated busy factory. How an essence is made is extremely important in how it performs. You will be able to tackle any emotional problem as there is a huge selection of essences to choose from. This will help you to finely tune your selection of essences for your animal. It will make you reassess what is really going on emotionally for your animal and what is at the root of the problem. When did it start and what was the cause of this new behaviour?

Having a tree that is well nourished by the rain feeding its roots and the sunlight shining on the leaves is the same as an animal being fed correctly with the correct diet and being socialised to as many different experiences as possible from a young age. A healthy tree will weather all that comes its way and will stand strong in the hardest storm. It will offer protection to the birds and shelter the rabbits. For animals to be healthy and happy they need to be given the correct tools to grow emotionally and physically. When they do not receive the correct input, it is here that the Bailey, Bach, and Verbeia Essences can be very beneficial.