What is Equine Assisted Therapy?
Equine Assisted Therapy is a practice that is beginning to take more precedence than previous years have seen. While human therapists focus on healing the human mind through a series of conversations and other methods giving the person emotional regulation, Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) instead focuses on a person’s bond and relationship with a horse in order to improve the mindset of that person.
According to the owner and therapist of Horses For Hope in Denham Springs, Louisiana, the practice of EAT focuses on understanding other relationships through the relationship with the horse. The sessions include understanding where the person’s relationship struggles lie, whether that is with their parents, children, or intimate relationships. The sessions help the patient understand how to react to certain situations, such as anger or sadness, to improve their relationships in their personal life.
Why Does EAT Work?
It can seem silly at first, to think that the mimic relationship with a horse could help with anger outburst or sadness in a patient, however it is a trusted and useful method for a multitude of different people, including: troubled children, PTSD patients, veterans, and even average people struggling with their own mental health.
The method of EAT is an intricate system that combines the patient’s personal struggles to the session, similar to how a therapist might make a personalized session plan for a patient in accordance to their problems they are facing with their therapist.
For example, a troubled child placed in EAT to work through any issues their parents might seek help with will have a different session plan than someone fighting through PTSD. A troubled child will use the horse to build a relationship with; to find a safe space away from what is causing them to act out. After fine-tuning that relationship with the help of the therapist, the therapist will then start to uncover the issues causing the troubled child to act out. This might include family issues at home or school troubles that they do not typically want to disclose. The therapist then works directly with them and the parents to help create an environment that the child can trust and feel better in than before.
Apatient suffering from PTSD who seeks the help of an EAT practice would have a very different experience than a troubled child would have. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can be characterized by many different symptoms including: flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and intrusive thoughts. These symptoms can be very painful for a person to work through, as it
is necessary to confront them in order to work past it. The use of a horse during this process is important as it is a way to help emotionally stabilize the patient during the session.
How Horses Help
Horses are majestic and beautiful creatures, but it can be confusing to understand why Equine Assisted Therapy can work simply with the presence of the horse. To understand that, you need to understand horses and their sensitive nature. A horse is known to be extremely sensitive to human emotion, so much so that once they pick up on your emotion they will mimic that emotion back to you.
The mimic of behavior and emotion that the horse inmates use can be extremely useful in the practice as it provides the chance for the patient to become self aware of their feelings.This also helps when a patient is learning emotional regulation, as it is a good reason to understand their own feelings and learn how to align them to the situation at hand.
Horses are known to be gentle creatures, this makes them the perfect companion for someone learning how to trust and build relationships. The horse itself is very receptive to emotions and sensitive to emotions and reactions; a single touch can either calm them or put them on edge. This is important for patients to understand as their actions towards the horse can determine the outcome of their relationship and sessions.
Mental Health issues can consume a person and make them think that they are in the world alone, without the help of anyone. Horses give those people an outlet to have that doesn’t necessarily have to include disclosing any personal issues that may be bothering them. Unlike traditional therapy that works to uncover the root of the issues and work past them, EAT can be suited for any person, including one that doesn’t feel comfortable sharing their taxing experience.
Creating a relationship with a horse creates a bond deeper than one that would be formed with a therapist. The difference is in the reception of information; a therapist will understand the words a person says and work with them to help their quality of life, while on the other hand, a horse will feel what the patient feels, which will bring them closer together. The bond and relationship built between the patient and horse is based on mutual trust to one another, resulting in a safe
feeling for both the horse and patient. The horse acts as an outlet for stress to patients, as they are able to let their guard down around them, and connect with the horse on a personal level.
Horses for Humans
Many EATfacilities have created programs for people and horses alike, as both are in need of rescuing. The previously mentioned facility, Horses for Hope, uses rescued horses for the therapy courses, letting the patient choose which horse they feel a connection with the most to proceed with the sessions. These rescued horses come from many different backgrounds: from retired racehorses, jumpers, and show horses, to horses that were on their path to the slaughter house across the border. Facilities such as this one give horses a second chance at life and patients a chance to connect and build a relationship with these horses. The use of these sensitive and gentle animals have opened new methods of therapy for humans as it gives the session of therapy a new reason and purpose of success; to be better for the horse. To become a trustworthy partner to the horse and people the patient surrounds themselves with, working through issues in order to become a better version of themselves, that is what Equine Assisted Therapy can offer a person.
