My Equine Education

Everything I need to know in life, I learned from my horse. Of course, there are some things he has been trying to pound into my brain for years that I have been resisting. Both my horse and I are therapists by trade. I work in a residential treatment facility for adolescents, and my horse, "Bucky" (as well as several others you will hear of) is often my equine partner in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. He is much better at it than I am.

EAP (Equine Assisted Psychotherapy), also known as Equine Assisted Growth and Learning, is an experiential model of treatment which involves using a treatment team that includes horses (in their natural state, with all their opinions, wisdom, and communications), an equine specialist, and a mental health professional. For more information on this model visit www.EAGALA.com.

As I do this work, I expect my clients to learn something about themselves from their interactions with the horses, and apply it to their lives. However, the longer I work in this field, the more I realize that change is not as easy as it sounds: it's hard to be willing to see something about yourself that doesn't look so pretty. Thankfully, horses can make that process a bit easier. But, even with their help, it can be a nearly impossible task for the fainthearted to take what they have learned, and actually do something about it.

What I hope this blog will help me do is to give me a purpose and intention to take what I learn from my horses, and apply it to my everyday life and relationships, to constantly push me to that next level. Hey, sometimes you need a push. Hah! I just realized that maybe that's the reason why my horse has been pushing me so much lately!