Page 12 - AEF-AlbertaBits_Fall-2025

mountain passes. Today, she teaches young
riders not only how to sit on a saddle, but
also how to see horses through Indigenous
eyes: as respected beings with their own
ways of communicating.
Painted Warriors also works with
numerous Indigenous youth groups. “I like
to work with students so they see horses the
way our ancestors did,” Klettl says. “Before
we even ride, I want them to notice how
horses talk to each other, how they move.
That’s where the learning begins.”
The impact on youth can be profound.
She recalls one student, hard of hearing and
withdrawn, who entered her program with
little confidence. Through English riding
training, he excelled — scoring high marks on
rider level tests and eventually becoming a
stunt rider for film and television. “It literally
changed him,” Klettl says. “Horses brought him
out of his shell. That’s the power they have.”
For many young people, connecting with
horses provides both skill and healing. Klettl
notes that in traditional culture, a person’s
status was tied to the number of horses they
had. Today, horses remain highly respected,
not as symbols of wealth but as companions
that nurture resilience, confidence and pride.
What began as a childhood love has
grown into a calling — teaching, guiding and
ensuring that Indigenous knowledge of horses
continues to thrive. As Klettl puts it, “Things
came full circle. I went from guiding in the
mountains, to English riding, and now back
again to guiding — only this time, I’m helping
others find their own way with horses.”
Photo by Kristin Braun
12
Alberta Bits Fall 2025
A Partner
in Ceremony
THE HEALING SPIRIT OF HORSES
PATRICK BUFFALO, a nēwiyaw from Maskwacis Territory, has
dedicated his life to community wellness. For more than 30 years, he
has worked in healing and wellness, and for the past decade he has
been guided by the spirit of the horse.
“The elders will say that everything is spirit,” Buffalo explains.
“The in-vogue phrase is, ‘everything is energy.’ In the work I do,
it’s addressing trauma, healing with energy, and that energy is a
language. Spirit is a language, and that language is what the horse
spirit speaks.”
As a practitioner of equine therapy based on ceremonial practices,
the horse is not simply an animal. It is a partner in ceremony, carrying
the capacity to feel sadness, grief, fear or kindness, and to reflect that
energy back to people. “In our culture, we have a relationship with
nature. We are equal to nature. Through ceremony we connect with
the horse spirit, and the horse spirit brings healing energy to us.”
Buffalo’s own path to this work began with rodeo. He was a
cowboy who rode bulls and bareback horses. When tragedy struck
— a family horse was badly injured in a gate accident — he followed
his heart and offered tobacco in ceremony when the horse had to be
put down. “For the first time, I offered tobacco. And two weeks later,
a real miracle happened.”
He recalls crushing his hand in an accident. “On a pain scale of
zero to 10, it was a throbbing 10. My horse came to me in my pain,
and I put my hands on the horse, and instantly it went from a 10 to a
zero.” Later, when he burned his hand, the same healing came. “It
was a 20 on the pain scale. And then my other horse, Skunk, came to
me and it went from 20 to zero.”
Witnesses saw these healings. His nephew, after smashing a finger
with a hammer, placed his hand on Buffalo’s horse Honey and the pain
was gone. Others experienced the same. “No miracles ever happened
until I offered tobacco, until I offered ceremony,” Buffalo says.
Since then, he has traveled across the country, bringing programs
rooted in ceremony, sacred songs and the horse spirit, to Indigenous
communities. He also helps lead large gatherings, such as the
horse dance ceremony. “It is a sacred ceremony for prayers, for the
community, for the people that come and participate.”
Buffalo does not claim to speak for all Indigenous peoples and
cultures, only from his own lived experience. “My focus is healing and
wellness with the horse spirit. In our culture, we have a very intimate
relationship with the horse spirit, and because of that, it brings healing
to the people — physical, mental, emotional healing.”