Equine Therapy

[DogwoodTree]

I don’t think it’s so much the horses being responsible for me. More of the horses being representative of other humans and me learning how to be around them and rely on them to not hurt me and just let them share my space. Like one particular exercise I saw on YouTube, the T had a girl feel her way around the horse with her eyes closed. Trusting the horse not to kick her, letting herself be vulnerable to the horse, controlling her own stuff so as not to trigger the horse. That kinda thing.

Yeah, that makes sense if that's what you're going for. But that's really trusting yourself, not the horse...assuming the horse is sufficiently trained (which then is trusting the trainer, not the horse).

I think equine therapy can be a lot more helpful for someone who's never been around horses much...it's kinda similar to biofeedback therapy in that you get nearly immediate feedback for your energy state. And for people who are more relational than I am, there's that comfort factor too. With my previous experience with horses, and considering my task-oriented, logical approach to relationships, it just wasn't a good fit for me. Hopefully you'll get what you want out of it.

 

[Freida]

So you'll see the difference as you learn to calm your nerves--you'll get quick feedback on that, and it helps you to monitor your own expressions of anxiety to affect the horse's behavior differently.

This is what I do with "my"horse. He simply wont respond to me unless I am calm. But as soon as I take a deep breath, do some counting, a reality check kind of thing --- then he comes to me. It's been a tough exercise in self control!

Mine is set up as lessons, so there are different things we work on each week - that all lead back to the connection between us and the horse. It's a really loose structure but there is guidance as I go.