Equine Faciliated Therapy and Learning
Back in the autumn of 2024 I did a guided meditation where one of the questions posed was:
“Where do you feel most yourself, most at peace, happiest...”
For me the answer to that question was instantaneous: in a field with horses.
I decided right then to explore finding a way to include this love that had grown within my personal life into my working life and so my training in Equine Facilitated Therapy and Learning began. By one of those wonderfully serendipitous occurrences, I was fortunate to find Horserenity just a short distance away at Kites Farm in Blandford. They were offering a course that felt just right for what I was looking for with dates coming up so I enrolled and my latest dream came to fruition.
Horserenity is a ground breaking centre offering alternative educational provision to young people and therapeutic work alongside our wonderful herd. There are also programs for teams and groups, including outreach to prisons and work with veterans. I now work there several days a week, supporting the young people who come to us because they are struggling in school, as well as offering private Equine Facilitated Therapy Sessions.
Why make the change?
As I progressed through my psychology training, now over twenty years ago, I increasingly became aware of the limitations of working primarily with the mind. This is a sort of top-down approach, aiming to support people with emotional difficulties through talking and changing ways of thinking. We absolutely need to work with our minds to support our emotional wellbeing and there are things for many people that do need to be spoken out loud to a supportive listener.
Our minds and our emotions, however, are not parts of us that are very well connected and so it is common to find ourselves blocked and feeling stuck, in spite of having a good intellectual understanding of our problems. This was what led me to deviate into energy and healing work so soon after completing my psychology training. It offered a more embodied way of accessing stored emotional ‘stuff’ that can keep us feeling unhappy or unable to live our lives in the way we would like. Aside from the joy that being around horses brings me personally, this is also what lead me now to decide to begin working alongside the majestic creature that is the horse.
What is Equine Facilitated Therapy?
As prey animals we can think of horses as huge, living and breathing nervous systems, which operate in the moment and without judgement. Happy horses spend a lot of time eating, resting and hanging out with their friends. They are finely attuned to their surroundings and, in the absence of stress, are rooted in their own bodies, rather than in their heads. Many people experience a deep sense of calm and a lowering of their own feelings of stress and tension just stepping into the vicinity of their quiet presence.
Horses need to be finely attuned to the emotional state of other mammals: Has a fellow herd member detected a threat? Is that lion off to get water or looking for its next meal? As such they are also, inevitably, aware of the emotional states of the humans in their vicinity. They are aware of our breathing and heart rates, our micro body language and when we are feeling unable to express something (perhaps even to ourselves) that is going on inside. And the beauty of it is that they don’t judge, they simply respond to how we are in the moment and when we change they change.
What does an Equine Facilitated Therapy session look like?
By stepping into, however temporarily, the world of the herd, it becomes possible to be more in our own bodies and to take a deeper breath. You will discover moments of stillness and connection and it can feel possible to start stripping back those things in your own mind and experience that no longer serve you or are perhaps not even really ‘you’ anyway.
Sometimes sessions do still involve quite a lot of talking, alongside the benefit of the calming presence of our equine friends and the insights that their interactions with each other and with us can offer. At other times there may be very little talking and more of a focus on bodily experiences and feelings – the chance to slow down and be in a world that offers us little of that.
How does all this effect the horse?
The vast majority of the work we do with our herd at Horserenity involves them being at liberty. Occasionally we may use a head collar to move them from one area to another but what this means is that, unless there is a welfare or safety consideration, they are free to come and go as they please. They have plenty of space to move around and at any point they can simply step away from an interaction. We also spend a lot of time observing their body language and communication and always do our best to listen to their wishes and preferences. There are currently eight members of our main herd, plus another smaller herd that we sometimes spend time with, so it also means that interactions with humans are not always with the same one or two horses.
Welfare for the animals is at the heart of what we do at Horserenity and if a horse is unwell in anyway, or just needs a break, this is always made a priority.
Practical things…
There is no riding involved in these sessions and no previous experience of horses is required, simply a willingness to arrive and be open to what evolves. You will be supported in the session just as you would be in any of my other work but also in terms of safety and what feels comfortable for you. Those who feel nervous around horses are very welcome and we can set things up to help you build your confidence at whatever pace feels good for you.
Please wear sturdy footwear with covered toes and be sure to dress for the weather. We do have some sheltered spaces but a lot of the session is likely to be outside. Occasionally sessions may need to be cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, in which case you will be offered another date.
Please park in the layby outside, being sure not to block the gate. I will come and meet you there at the time of our session. Please bring a bottle of water and, if possible, leave any bags in your car. It is also best to avoid wearing any strong scents as this can affect the horses. We have a toilet available onsite.
Booking an appointment
I am currently offering these sessions on Friday afternoons but please do get in touch if this time doesn’t work for you or if you would like a chat to find out more. Equine Facilitated Therapy can work well as a one-off session but generally a series of sessions are more helpful. You are welcome to book an initial time to see how you find it and also to combine it with any of my other sessions as part of a tailored therapy and healing program.
You can book sessions online here, or contact me directly if you prefer.