Straight from the Horse’s mouth:

In the beginning of all things, wisdom and knowledge were with the animals, for Tirawa, the One Above, did not speak to man. He sent certain animals to tell men that he showed himself through the beasts, and that from them, and from the stars and the moon, man should learn. — Pawnee Chief Lekota-Lesa

EFEL

Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning

“If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys.”
-Chief Dan George

For millions of years horses have roamed the earth. As members of a highly social herd structure, and as animals of prey, horses have developed a heightened state of awareness. They are highly sensitive to the body language of other herd members, they trust their instincts, communicate clearly and know how to lead with compassion. Horses are capable of transferring these skills in their interactions with humans, thus making them natural teachers in the art of living authentically.

We teach emotional fitness skills by connecting with horses as teachers and healers. We incorporate expressive arts and energy medicine sessions in our workshops, as tools to enhance the mind/body connection and to connect deeply to the rich world of the Unconscious mind. The purpose of our programs is to explore how we can establish a relationship with horses that is centered on compassion, healing and revelation:

It is compassionate because it acknowledges the horse as a sentient being with the capacity to make ethical decisions and engage with us as intuitive and powerful partners.

It is healing because in the process of connecting with the beauty, grace, and power of the horse, we discover and experience those same aspects in ourselves.

It is revealing because it shifts our conditioned patterns of behaviors and ways of looking at the world. When we step into a healing relationship with horses with intention, we become more flexible in how we relate to ourselves and to others. We begin to recognize, integrate, and manage the either/or, rigid dualities that keep us from experiencing others and ourselves in a more expansive way.

The goal of experiential learning is to learn through direct experience. We reflect on our experience, either in individual or group sessions, learning to give and receive feedback in a supportive, gentle and non-judgemental way. The role of the equine-assisted therapist is to help clients identify patterns of behavior with the horses that may point to areas in their lives that need attention. Ultimately, we explore ways in which Horse Wisdom can be modeled to effect positive changes in our everyday lives.

Our Equine Assisted Learning model connects people and horses in ways that are innovative and truly transformational!