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Why Horses
Horses are very effective in teaching humans how to live in the moment. They do this by providing "raw" honest feedback to their human companions. As in the photo above, in which Skye horse is reaching towards my friend Jeanne, horses have an extraordinary capacity to provide a reassuring, gentle calm presence. Skye's ears are pointed outward telling us that she is not on alert, nor is she agitated (ears back). She is resting, enjoying Jeanne's company. Wanting to be as close to her as she can. Jeanne likewise is drawn towards Skye, sharing a moment of quiet (inter-species) companionship.
Because they are prey animals horses are highly sensitive to any change in their physical environment and are always on the alert for danger. If you watch them in their paddocks you will see one horse standing nearby to a horse that is lying down, a self appointed sentry. Very rarely do they both lie down together because to do so would open them up more readily to attack.
If a horse does not understand what you are asking them to do they will simply ignore you or may walk away. This can be very humbling and confronting. You are unable to connect.
Horses might:
turn their head away from you
turn their ears toward a more interesting or concerning sound or
if you are really not making an impact then they may move their body away, possibly stepping on your foot (if it is in the way) as they do so.
However if we are open to slowing down our busy selves, as Jeanne demonstrates in the photo, then we have the opportunity to learn from our equine friends. Over time we can become better at communicating more effectively and respectfully, human to human, horse to horse, or inter-species - horse to human.
Core EQ Equine Engagement Experience
Our Equine Experential Education (EEE) Programs provide you with simple yet profound insights as you interact with our specially trained horses.
Clear Boundaries
Core EQ establishes some clear boundaries in the way we work with our horses:
Horses will be very honest with you. They are always looking out for who is the leader. If you are not the leader then they will look elsewhere or assume the role themselves.
At all times human safety is paramount. This means that sometimes a Core EQ facilitator may intervene, as a precaution, when you think everything is ok but you may have missed a cue.
Apart from the meet and greet in their stables, where the horses are at liberty to remove themselves from being touched, all other interactions are in the working spaces of the Core EQ property. Not the horses' paddocks because that is their rest space. Our facilities include a full size horse arena and under cover round yard.
The horses are always free to disengage from a session if they are displaying any significant sign of agitation or distress. This means on windy days extra care is required.
The natural leadership in the herd must be respected. Skye, who is our 17 hand mare, is in fact the leader even though Finnigan is the highly trained dressage horse. She will use her size and strength to assert her dominance. Mares are often more demonstrative and highly charged than geldings. They can also be very affectionate as is Skye.
Horses' size and strength differential to humans requires us always to be observant of what is happening in the immediate and wider environment. Here you are encountering a 500 kilo animal. An interesting fact is that a horse is scanning their environment for an approx 1.6 kilometer circumference. Their acute hearing will pick up, what for us, are imperceptible sounds. Therefore we need to always be on guard to changes in their demeanour.
Your interactions will involve a rawer, grounded experience, where you are challenged to observe and understand both your horse companion's, and your own, responses and behaviours. And your rewards will be rich.
By slowing down to observe each frame of movement in time, every ear twitch, snort or sigh you likewise will achieve a mindfulness state way beyond listening to a mindfulness tape.
You may identify patterns of your learned behavior that work against you when interacting with the horses. This is rich data we can unpack if you choose.
Improving Your Emotional Literacy
Our approach helps you improve your emotional literacy:
your understanding of your emotions
your ability to express your observations and feelings
With acceptance and understanding of yourself comes peace.
Learning and Development Approach
We combine our practical knowledge of human and horse behavior to facilitate a meaningful outcome for you the participant.
Our program is based on human learning and development principles. We employ the unique abilities of horses to live in the moment and communicate honestly using their natural herd dynamics to offer powerful learnings for our participants.
Using skilled facilitation, we help you identify the Emotional Intelligence, EQ, issues that you may have denied or resisted. We do this within a structured framework of Feel Smarter Think Kinder.
We can then work with you to grow and develop your intuition, impact and influence strengths.
The Equine (EQ) Link
Equine Experiential Education programs can significantly assist people to draw on their unique strengths and attributes and tap into their job crafting and leaderwork capabilities. Equine assisted Team building exercises can enhance this work.
Dr Deb
Revised 11 December 2023
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