Equine Therapy
Horses are beautiful, majestic creatures that have fascinated humans for millennia. They are powerful and fast. They have been the stuff of legends in almost every culture on earth.
In recent years, studies are revealing what every young girl whose daddy buys her a horse for her birthday could have told you: being with a horse can heal a human heart. Horses are being used to teach at risk youth to trust enough to be able to work with their counselor on deep traumas that they haven’t been able to talk about previously. Prison programs that team wild horses with inmates for “gentling” are finding that profound, life-altering changes are happening in the inmates because of their experience with the horses.
Why do they have such an impact on human emotions?
In his amazing book, The Power of Horse to Heal (Martin Press), Tim Hayes tells us that horses are prey animals and have the deep, primal fears that all prey animals share. They have one big fear. What is it? That something is going to eat them.
This fear response is why they have survived, and it is also why they are so healing to a traumatized person. When they trust you, they shift from fear to curiosity, safety and comfort. This huge, muscular beast becomes a friend who honors you as part of his herd. He treats you with acceptance, tolerance, kindness, respect and forgiveness. These are all characteristics of love and love received heals the wounded heart.
Horses never lie. They show exactly how they are feeling through their body language, and they unerringly read the body language of every creature around them. They respond out of their right brain when it comes to survival (and to a horse, everything is about survival.) This means that they are always in a state of hypervigilance, constantly scanning their environment to see if there is anything there that might eat them.
Hypervigilance is one of the main characteristics of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) too. When an emotionally traumatized human interacts with a hypervigilant horse, both see something familiar in the other. Mirror neurons kick in and those memories of trauma that are frozen in the human’s right brain begin to thaw.
Horses don’t judge or criticize or blame. They always live in pure expression of honest emotion. And when they feel safe and connected to their human friend, their unconditional acceptance is deeply healing. Trust starts to grow.
Thinking logically and analytically, planning and scheming, worrying, or trying to figure out the future are all functions of the left brain and are useless when interacting with a horse. To connect with a horse, the human is forced to operate out of his or her right brain, too. And this is where our wounded parts are hiding. Our feelings are the key to connecting with those parts of us that went into hiding when the trauma happened.
The bond that forms between our wounded right brain and the right-brained horse brings a sense of deep safety, understanding and trust. It is truly a miracle.
Join us for a retreat and bring your curiosity and your willingness to experience something new and wonderful. Your horse partner is waiting to go on this journey of discovery and healing with you. You will be glad you did!
During your time at Border Mountain, you will have a chance to experience this miracle with our gentle, intuitive horses and facilitators. Most of the work we do with the horses is on the ground and involves special activities that foster communication and bonding with your horse. We will do all we can to ensure your safety and comfort and will never ask you to do anything dangerous or harmful to either you or your special horse friend.