What is Equine Therapy?

The Answer:

Equine-Assisted Therapy provides a metaphoric experience with horses to promote emotional growth. This experiential therapy teaches people about themselves, allows recognition of dysfunctional patterns of behavior, and helps define healthy relationships. Horses are typically non-judgmental and have no expectations or motives. Therefore, a patient can practice congruency without the perceived fear of rejection. The horse assists in making patients aware of their emotional state as the horse responds in reaction to their behavior. Through working with the horse, patients can gain insight into their feelings, behaviors, patterns, congruency, boundaries, and stumbling blocks to recovery. The process can be a very effective adjunct to the primary group experience.

I had fun taking one of my clients to experience equine therapy for the first time. The client had to get the horse to get over an obstacle which represented a goal the client wanted to accomplish in his life. This was to be done without touching the horse. Two helpers could be used to accomplish the task. The helpers would only do what the client wanted them to do. The client accomplished the goal but learned a lot about his style of behavior in the process. The beauty of equine therapy is that it helps the person learn a new skill and apply it at the same time. Highly reccomended for you therapists to experience and use as well.