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Why Are Equine
Favoured in Healing Programs?
Noble Character
of Equine
People learn about themselves and others by participating in
activities with the horses.
Horses are very social animals. They have distinct personalities and
temperaments.
The factors that make remarkable
curative outcomes possible relate directly to the very noble
character qualities of equine which is why horses are so valuable in
assisted healing strategies. Equine are able to help us work through
our personal difficulties.
Carla states: The first time I was introduced to equine as
therapeutic tools, I took some of my clients riding and realized
that all of their character weakness and strengths were exposed
within the first ten min of being around the horses. I was shocked
at how quickly the walls came down and the fears were exposed and
overcome and confidence restored. I hardly had to do anything; the
horses were responsible for it all. Years of therapy could not
offer such quick results."
Other characteristic of equine make curative outcomes possible.
No One Can Fool
a Horse
The first reason, simply put, is that no one can fool a horse.
Equine responses are based on honesty; the horse simply will not
respond to manipulative behaviours or lying because they are masters
of body language.
Equine Respond
Positively to Courage, Compassion, Respect
The second reason leads us to why people are able to look inwardly
at themselves when they are around horses. Next to honesty, every
horse wants to feel safe and in essence wants a leader. From the
very first encounter with a human, a horse will respond positively
to a leader that displays courage, compassion and respect. On the
other hand a horse will become frightened and unresponsive with
someone who is deceitful, antagonistic, loud, disrespectful,
demanding, ill-mannered, or domineering. The client is required to
initiate the equine/human relationship, and to illicit a positive
response the client must genuinely modify his or her behaviour,
tone, disposition, manners, or feelings in order to get the horse to
feel safe, calm and willing to cooperate.
Gaining the trust of a horse is not an everyday experience for most
individuals who are suffering, vulnerable, confused, or angry.
Healing begins as soon as the client finds the courage to approach a
horse and healing advances another step forward when the client
unearths the formula for establishing an honest straight forward
relationship with the horse. Moreover, this relationship is likely
one that is quite unfamiliar -not just any ordinary connection, but
a communication and connection based on feelings and actions, a
partnership built on trust, a bond with a very powerful animal – and
that is a deeply rewarding experience that has an extremely positive
effect on the client’s healing journey.
Horses Have
Similar Emotions to People
Thirdly, horses have similar emotions to people. For example, when
a horse loses a foal or a parent it becomes stressed and sad just
like we can be. Horses can exhibit behaviours similar to people,
too, especially if treated poorly. Otherwise a horse is calm,
patient, and responsive. Horses sense what people are feeling and
respond as a mirror to the person working with them. Because horses
are in touch with their innate sensory awareness and very adept at
reading non verbal clues in body language or moods, they are able to
detect in humans the emotional and physiological variations that
humans are not always aware of. The horse responds either
negatively or positively to emotions or actions, which teaches the
client that his behaviour can affect others.
They mirror exactly what human body language is telling them by
reacting immediately to signals that people do not realize they are
sending.
Another notable point
is that horses do not hold grudges. They are there in the moment
with a client, so if the client changes a mood or behaviour the
horse will respond accordingly. The same human qualities that are
required to gain the trust of a horse are needed to have successful
and rewarding human relationships.
Horses are Large and Powerful
There is another reason we select horses for healing and that is
because of their size and demeanour. Many clients feel overwhelmed
by the adverse situations in their life. They feel that their
problems are too large and too powerful to overcome. Like many of
the fears and challenges in their lives, horses, too, are large and
powerful. Working with a large and very strong animal, first
challenges a client to overcome the fear of even approaching the
horse. Figuring out how to connect with the horse creates natural
opportunities for clients to view some of their larger fears as
being surmountable and they learn how to grow stronger from that.
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What Makes Positive
Outcomes Possible
A Horse
Requires Communication, Care and Attention
Fourth, a horse requires a lot of care. When the horse accepts the
individual for their honest, compassionate and respectful
leadership, a relationship develops and bonding occurs. During the
process of observing, caring for, and working alongside the horse,
the client engages in talking, processing feelings, behaviours and
patterns. In the immediate job of caring for or interacting with
the horse the client shifts his or her focus from self to the
horse. The ultimate goal for the client is to build skills such as
personal responsibility, assertiveness, non-verbal communication,
self-confidence, and self-control. When a person with high
emotional needs connects with a horse, a living breathing powerful
being and receives its unconditional love this affirmative
relationship lessens or removes the person’s fear of being
emotionally vulnerable. The person also develops new perspective,
new hope and new beliefs about self. Even those showing severe
anti-social and aggressive behaviour become calmer and more
communicative around horses.
Being in the
Vicinity of Equine Changes the Brain Wave Patterns of Humans
Which brings us to the fifth reason we can expect good outcomes in
Equine Assisted Healing. It has been clinically proven that just
being in the vicinity of horses changes the brainwave patterns of
humans. Even a short fifteen to 20 minutes with an equine will help
a person feel calmer. That’s because of an increase to the amount
of endorphins that are released into the body and a decrease in the
levels of a chemical called cortisol - which is a hormone that
controls stress and arousal. A tranquil encounter allows a person
to focus their attention on the newness of the experience and, for
a while at least, to stop fixating on negative personal issues, all of
which translates into a positive experience. Our clients needs
positive experiences in their life.
Equine are Not
Retaliatory or Counterintuitive
Many of these equine qualities shows that horses are not retaliatory
or counterintuitive, so any response from a horse will allow for the
client to learn natural and logical consequences, which, of course
is one of the premises of Circle of Courage. This allows for
introspection and a number teaching opportunities relating to
behaviour and emotions.
Interacting With Equine is Highly Experiential
As
a final point, the interaction with a horse is highly experiential
and, because the connection and experience is, in most cases,
profoundly different for the client in comparison to other
relationships the client has experienced, it becomes a very
important and reflective encounter. Furthermore, working with
equines is not common for most of clients. At first they consider
it a novelty, then maybe wonderment. However, given enough exposure
to the horse, it does not take long for a client’s feelings to
evolve toward self-exploration, awakening, transformation of
behaviour patterns, as well as advancing mentally, emotionally, and
spiritually.
The Outdoor
Experience
Besides the qualities of the horse, positive curative outcomes are
made possible by the overall outdoor experience; the
differentiations of the human/equine experience from the
conventional counsellor/client face to face, chair to chair
experience; the ensuing discussions that are part of the Equine
Assisted Healing Program. If we believe that modifying the habitual
patterns of feeling and behaviour that are "encoded" in the right
brain is the primary goal of all therapies then Equine Assisted
Healing provide the perfect means of transforming behaviour
patterns. For the client being with a horse and being accepted by a
horse is a deeply genuine and sensory experience. One could
describe it as right-brain therapy as opposed to talk therapy.
Opportunities
to Explore the Experience, the Feelings
In
order to have this emotional experience brought to consciousness so
that it can be verbalized and processed it is necessary to provide
the client with opportunities, during and after sessions, for
exploring feelings, behaviours, communication, relationships and to
discuss them with the therapy team. Some of these talks can
take place in a rather relaxed outdoor environment which in itself
can encourage atypical discussions. Being out of the sterile,
sometimes intimidating environment of a counsellor's office and
entering the much more interesting environment of a horse ranch can
be especially beneficial for children who live in urban areas and
don't often get to enjoy a rural setting.
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