Schools, / Private Lessons, / Mental Health, / Leadership Training
Why Horses?
Anyone who has spent much time with horses will recognize and understand that horses influence people in incredibly powerful ways. Developing relationships, learning the language of the horses, loving and caring and even learning how to play with the horses is a mutually beneficial and awesome experience. The Equine Experience can promote many positive benefits that are difficult to attain in other settings.
Clients who work with horses experience many benefits. Clients learn healthy life skills that can improve work ethic, gain a better understanding of respect and responsibility, cultivate assertiveness, develop clear communication skills, and foster healthy relationships. The horses also teach us how to become grounded in truthfulness and honesty. Because of these benefits, partnering horses with humans in corporate, educational and medical settings is growing and gaining popularity.
Accomplishing a task with a 1200 pound horse requires utilizing leadership skills and confidence and therefore provides wonderful metaphors when dealing with other intimidating and challenging situations in life. Most importantly, horses have the ability to mirror exactly what human body language is telling them. Many people will complain, "The horse is stubborn. The horse doesn't like me," etc. But the lesson to be learned is that if they change themselves, the horses respond differently. Horses are honest, which makes them especially powerful messengers.
Horses are very much like humans in that they are social animals. They have defined roles within their herds. They would rather be with their peers. They have distinct personalities, attitudes, and moods. An approach that seems to work with one horse does not necessarily work with another. At times, they seem stubborn and defiant. They like to have fun. In other words, they are like us!
Horses provide vast opportunities for us to learn about ourselves. Interacting with horses in a therapeutic environment is effective with even the most challenging individuals or groups.