FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What issues can you help me solve?

We will partner a facilitator and a horse to help a client begin a journey into healing and self-development. It is an effective way to break out of old patterns because horses work with ‘heart energy’ and participants’ emotions. Horses can sense inner feelings, bring them to the surface, and mirror them back so participants can recognize and understand them. Once people start to understand the messages behind their emotions – the body’s way of giving information – they gain the knowledge and confidence to work through them. Emotions such as fear and sadness are recognised, honoured and released to also allow more room for emotions such as confidence, happiness, and faith moving into the future.

When horses show us how we are showing up to them, we gain important insight into how we are showing up to others and how this is affecting our lives.

How do horses affect our mental wellbeing?

Horses are prey animals. To survive they have learned to read other creatures- to see beyond the physical representation to know what is going on inside. Because of this instinctual skill, horses in an equine facilitated session reflect back to us our inner state of mind, they serve as emotional mirrors and show us our emotional truth.

Humans can get caught up in ‘what might happen’ which has often led us to anxious and unhelpful thoughts, memories and feelings. Horses bring us back into the present moment. Negotiating successfully with a 600-kilogram animal can be also great for building up self-esteem and confidence! Often you can be surprised and empowered by finding that you have the calmness and clarity your horse is seeking.

Science has discovered that horse’s naturally have a heart rate three times slower than humans. Just spending time in the presence of horses helps slow down our hearts. Horses have this magic power that lies in their big hearts.

How do I choose between Equine Assisted Learning, Equine Assisted Therapy or The Horse Wisdom Program?

EAL is facilitated by an EAL expert while, EAT is facilitated by a mental health therapist. If you’re already seeing a therapist, you can benefit from the EAL or Horse Wisdom Program in order to give you more support and life skills, however, if you’re not seeing a therapist yet, you could choose the EAT option, and have your therapist sessions in nature, with the help of our rescue horses.

The Horse Wisdom Program is a series of set sessions with horses that contains a comprehensive program that will take individuals or groups through stages of Regulation, Awareness, Boundaries, Feelings, Thoughts and Facing Challenges. Develop tools to navigate life with more ease- neutralize destructive negative thoughts, problem solve and communicate better and have more fun.

Contact us if you’re having some difficulties choosing the program that’s more suited to your needs and we will help you to find the right direction for your particular case.

What is the structure of the sessions?

Most private sessions are either one or two hours long taken weekly. Fortnightly sessions are also available on occasion.

We also offer weekend or week long horse wisdom programs for groups and family groups. Weekend or week long Writing With Horses /Creativity retreats.

The Horse Wisdom program is structured into eight sessions, but clients can keep coming after the program is completed to concentrate on specific learning or therapeutic goals.

Will we ride the horses?

No we won’t. The horses, steers and dogs living here are all rescues that have overcome displacement, stressful work conditions, grief, misunderstanding and loss (similar challenges to those that our clients want to overcome) and we want to make the rest of their lives as pleasant as possible and also make your interaction with them the most real and authentic!

At Melbourne Equine Therapy the horse’s wisdom is honoured here as a co-therapist, friend, and teacher, therefore all the sessions are with horses interacting with them on the ground. Indeed, most of the time the horse is at complete liberty unrestrained by halters or bridles, to ensure that they are with us because they want to work with us. Unlike riding where horses must obey commands.

What we offer people here is unlike room-based therapy or coaching as all the sessions provide an opportunity to have a heartfelt and completely voluntary interaction with another living being.