"When you cannot walk, let me help you to run. When you are afraid, let me teach you to trust. When you feel weak, let me help you build your strength. When you can't find your voice, let us speak without words. When you cannot reach, let me raise you above the world. When you want to give up, let me show you how far you can go."

The Work: Quote

WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

Human and Equine Interactive learning helps individuals to better understand themselves and how they operate in the wider world. We help clients to establish what it is that may be holding them back from reaching their full potential and work on developing resources and outcomes to guide them to where they would like to be.

It is a non clinical form of learning and development that is immersive and experiential. The horses provide instant feedback which enables participants to adapt their behaviour in real time and find solutions to issues they may be facing in both their personal and / or professional lives.

Being supported by the horses and out in nature, leads to a feeling of security and improved wellbeing. Clients often report that they are able to look at things differently and speak about things that they've never spoken about before as well as developing ways to regulate themselves and feel a deep sense of calm.

BENEFITS OF HORSE ASSISTED HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

BENEFITS INCLUDE:

CONFIDENCE:

Working with horses and being the leader enhances clients’ confidence in their own ability.

SELF-WORTH:

Learning to communicate and achieve harmony with a large animal promotes feelings of self-worth.

COMMUNICATION:

Horses’ sensitivity to non-verbal communication and energy can help clients to understand their own emotions, the non-verbal cues that they are giving out and how that shows up for them in other relationships.

TRUST:

Learning to trust an animal can help to rebuild trust for those whose trust has been diminished through negative past experience.

PERSPECTIVE:

Grooming activities and other types of care for a specific horse, enable clients to put aside the absorbing focus of their own issues and instead direct their attention and interests outwardly toward safe, positive and caring interactions. Thinking about another being's perspective can often shift the focus immensely from the internal to the wider focus.

ANXIETY REDUCTION:

Many studies of human-animal interaction indicate significant reductions in physiological anxiety levels, including the research carried out by the HeartMath Institute. Many clients are initially afraid of the horses, but after guided interactions they soon begin to embrace them. This can be particularly useful as a stepping stone to further exposure to other methods of therapy for whatever challenge they may be facing.

DECREASING ISOLATION:

Many individuals suffer with fear of rejection and then stop going out and interacting within their community. Gaining the acceptance of the horses is a really great way to begin to re-integrate without it feeling totally overwhelming.

IMPULSE REGULATION:

To get the best from a horse you need to communicate calmly and non-reactively. By getting to practise this regularly and receive instant feedback on if you're getting it right, it promotes the skills of emotional awareness, emotion regulation, self-control, and impulse modulation. There are a lot of research papers which demonstrate the efficacy of equine-assisted learning in reducing client agitation and aggressiveness and increasing cooperativeness and behavioural control.

BOUNDARIES:

Boundaries are often forgotten about to an individuals detriment. When clients work with the horses they get to experience what it is to set boundaries in a respectful manner and have them adhered to. Once the system knows what that is like it is then able to transfer that into positive relationships and experiences in the wider context of their lives.

The Work: Services