Jen Zoë Hall: Slaughtering Gold: What Zenerjen Has To Offer in 2022

When I met Jen Zoë Hall in February of 2013, I had no idea how much she and her work for horses would come to mean to me. We found each other rubbing shoulders – quite literally – at Tony Robbins' Los Angeles event – Unleash the Power Within, where we each walked across a bed of fire and hot burning coals barefoot, without a single burn to our skin. We've become great friends, and I previously wrote about her work in my January piece "Walking Through Fire: The Zenerjen Pairing of Horses and Humans." But today, I'd like for you hear from Jen directly, and so she's penned a guest blog that can be found below - enjoy! - Marty Irby

By Jen Zoë Hall

What do you think of when you think of a horse? Is it their power, their beauty, or their speed? That was the first line of my TED talk when I started down my personal journey of healing and growth. Most of us see the value and beauty in a horse in how fast they can run or in how high they can jump. Their physical capability is where their value lies and when they’re done with their “career”, too many are sent to a fate they didn’t sign up for nor do they deserve, they are shipped to their deaths.

But what if? What if there was still value in these majestic animals outside of their physical prowess? And I don’t mean setting them up for another career. That would be like asking Tom Brady to start running triathlons after winning SEVEN super bowl rings. Now, Tom, being the GOAT that he is, could probably handle it, but in the horse world, it’s not that simple. And that’s where horses like my former racehorse Maverick comes in, a beautiful, stoic, sovereign bay horse that is an integral part of my empowerment programs at the age of 19. He may not have won seven super bowl rings, but he did win more money at the track than Seabiscuit, racing until he was ten years old. In the racing world, racing a horse till that age is also pushing the limits as most race horses are retired before they reach the ripe age of four. With a lifespan of anywhere between 25 and 35 years of age on average, that leaves a lot of horses looking for homes and with a lot of life left. And for horses like Maverick, who became aggressive with people after a decade of being forced to tolerate the whip and the life of a racehorse, putting him to another performance career simply wasn’t an option. And in cases like Maverick’s, ending up in a Sanctuary like mine is the rare exception and a blessing, not the rule.

And the issue doesn’t just lie with race horses. Tens of thousands of horses each year end up with the same fate from other sources such as people who don’t know what to do with their family pet when they can no longer afford it, wild mustangs rounded up to make room for cattle or other industry, the infirm, injured or just horses that are no longer wanted.

So what if after giving their all on the track, in the show ring, in the wild or as a beloved family pet, they could become something that solves a bigger problem? What if horses could be saved from slaughter and live out their lives helping people heal, still be who they are with no force, no pressure, a life that looks a little more like a horse’s life should.

More and more science is backing up the healing power that horses have for people, and after developing the Zenerjen Method of Equine Assisted Empowerment, I believe that the value these horses have is much deeper than the price a kill buyer can get by the pound or on someone’s dinner plate with a side of garlic.

I believe that everyone deserves to have a life changing experience with a horse that maintains the dignity of the animal and therein lies their true value. I have seen incredible transformations in people from all walks of life and all parts of the world. I’ve seen marriages saved, businesses shift and grow, Veterans feel peace for the first time after combat, and even better physical health and weight loss. To see horses, the same animals that helped forge our civilizations, fight our wars and carry our families, could now help us in this modern age discover deeper communication, stronger leadership and more empowering sense of self, would it not make sense to treat them with the value that they offer for the greater good of the consciousness of humans everywhere. Horses are like The Giving Tree, with huge hearts, altruistic natures and full of love and trust, it blows me away even now that they allow humans, the apex predator to put rope on their faces, metal in their mouths and the flesh of another dead animal on its back to do our bidding. It is my mission to share with the world in new an innovative ways how precious they are alive rather than exploited and slaughtered for whatever humans can take, till death do us part.

It is critical to take a look at why we are throwing valuables away and slaughtering these iconic horses and instead consider that we are tripping over gold to get to pennies knowing that people can have unique and profound life transformations through Equine Assisted Empowerment.

Jen Zoë Hall is an author, speaker and behavior expert, and the owner and founder of The Zenerjen Method of Equine Assisted Empowerment. For more information about Equine Assisted Empowerment, contact Jen Zoë Hall at @jenzoehall on Instagram or via email at jen@zenerjen.com or visit her website at www.zenerjen.com