Although the technical term for how I work is called ‘equine assisted’ or ‘equine facilitated’ coaching or psychotherapy – I prefer to describe my approach as ‘horse led’. This is because I consider the horse, with their extraordinary sensitivity and intuition, to be central to the process. It is me assisting them, not the other way around.
There are many scientific reasons why horses are good at helping us to learn about ourselves: they are prey animals, so are finely tuned to pick up on the most subtle of emotional and energetic signals. They also live in herds and in the wild their survival depends on the herd understanding each other, and working cooperatively together. Communication between them takes place across long distances, in the moment. They are masters at returning to calm and balance after a scare or upset, and being around them helps us, too, to become calm (there is scientific evidence to prove this).
Horses also get straight to the point. They have clear boundaries and say what needs to be said, when it needs saying. This honesty helps us to reach our own truth very quickly.
The magic of being with the herd and learning amongst them surpasses these scientific foundations. Somehow they seem to see into our very soul, shining a light in there for us also to see. They enable us to access the full range of our emotional experience and connect us with a sense of our true self – in a peaceful, joyful, safe and often immediate way. They are non-judgemental and see us for what we are, not what we pretend to be, or what others see us as. They embody all that is natural and in connecting with them heart-centredly we connect too with all that is. Profound peace as well as profound insight comes from time spent quietly with them.
Horses don’t need words and when working with them we don’t either. Being free of the constraints which language places on us, enables connection with our true essence and emotional self.