Our Mission

Why Horses?

During the last 100 years, there has been a dramatic shift in the role that horses have played in our society. In this century alone, horses have been “used” as instruments of battle, as farm implements, for transportation, in competition, and more recently, healing.

The horse has been with us since the early days of man. Cave drawings of horse images have been found all over the world dating back tens of thousands of years. Horses have been used as farm implements: plowing fields for planting and clearing forests for building. For the early settlers, they drove sheep and cattle and pulled carriages and wagons. In war efforts, they were used as tools of battle and transported weaponry. In my own family, my grandfather delivered mail in rural Illinois by horseback, changing horses at neighboring farms along the way.

Throughout history, humans and horses have had interwoven lives. What is remarkable about this is that as a predatory species, humans have captured, bred, trained, protected, sheltered, eaten, and even loved the horse, who by nature, is a prey animal. In exchange, the horse has been dependent on a predator to meet its basic needs of food, shelter, safety, play, and companionship in its modern day domesticated life. During the last fifty years, there has been another shift in the role that horses play in our lives: from tool to partner.

OUR PARTNERS IN HEALING

With this partnership, humans have come to recognize the healing power of horses. As Winston Churchill acknowledged in his well-known quote, “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” I would argue that there is also something on the inside of a horse that is good for us! Horses have some unique qualities which set them apart from other creatures used in animal assisted work.

What is it about the horse that allows them to be so beneficial in helping us lead better lives? As a prey animal, horses are hard-wired for fight or flight, able to detect the slightest change in their environment or those in it. Their survival hinges on their keen perception. This quality alone has implications for those who are living in a hypervigilant state, as a result of trauma history, mental illness, substance abuse, or combat stress. The horse serves as a model for regulation and self-control as he quickly assesses a situation through his hypervigilance then adjusts his responses, emotions, and energy to match his interpretation or misinterpretation as dangerous or safe.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM HORSES?

Horses help us realize that there is a place for hypervigilance, but when that state is not needed, continuing to function from a heightened sense of arousal over long periods of time is emotionally and physically exhausting as well as counterproductive to meeting our goals. Horses also use their acute perception and intuition to read our emotions and intentions. As highly evolved, socially intelligent beings, horses are instantaneously able to tell if we are being genuine or congruent with actions matching hearts and minds. That is why even from great distances a horse is able to discern whether a lion crouched in the grass is taking a nap or preparing to attack! They know when something is not quite right or as it should be in us or in their surroundings. When we intentionally try to cover up our real feelings by wearing a mask, pretending to be something we are not, the horse’s internal barometer senses this discrepancy and takes note. Horses can react in unusual ways to humans behaving one way and feeling another, even when we may not be aware of it ourselves. Possible reactions might include abrupt shifts in attitude, movement, willingness, comfort, or bowel control. Individuals very familiar with a certain horse frequently are informed about the incongruence of a person simply by observing the reactions of the horse. Often the individual is unaware of their own feelings or that they are not being honest  with themselves. It is only after that awareness comes that the individual is able to address what is really going on.

Not to be overlooked, horses have a commanding presence. Their physical size can be intimidating, yet when relationships are formed and connections are made, that imposing size - which may initially cause an anxiety or fear response - now leads to feelings of accomplishment and self-confidence. Interactions with other types of emotional support or therapy animals such as dogs, pigs, or goats, do not elicit the same powerful size-related emotions.

Another very important way that horses help us is through work on communication skills. Since the natural language of the horse is non-verbally communicated through body language, it can be easily overlooked. Similarly, in human interactions, even though studies have shown that greater than 90% of what we communicate is done so non-verbally, we often fail to recognize the signals given. This can result in hurt feelings, misinterpretations, and failed communication. In order to be an effective communicator, we must be present in the moment, attentive to the communicative partner, and be listening and interested in the potential message exchange. With careful observation, practice, and study, patterns of horse behavior begin to emerge, and their body language begins to be more predictable - leading to safer horse human interactions. The more we detect and respond to even the subtle cues of the horse, the more tuned in and willing they become to communicate with us.

Isn’t this true of human communication? The better we listen and the more interested we are, the deeper our conversations become. Horses are capable and willing to form real, long-lasting, and meaningful relationships with people, each other, and other animals with communication being key to these connections. Each with different personalities and attributes, horses allow us to explore the many different forms that relationships can take. We can then take the relationship building lessons that we learn with the horse into our other relationships. As our connections and relationships with horses evolve, they allow us to learn about ourselves free of judgment, past history or grudges. It is much easier to face our weaknesses when they are presented from our horse partners than from our human counterparts. Their honest and forgiving nature provides the safety for us to genuinely examine ourselves and our relationships with others and to practice new ways of thinking and behaving. It is a great time to be in the horse industry and to see that horses are now being recognized for the healing power that they bring. It is clear that we have much to learn from our horse partners!