There are several reasons horses are used in this work, but primarily it is due to their nature as a social and prey animal. As a result of this nature, they have an extraordinary ability to read nonverbal communication – picking up on messages that humans are sending which are not always conscious to the humans. With this, they start responding to humans in familiar ways reminding them of other people and things in their life. It is through this they become metaphors (symbols) providing humans with the opportunity to work on themselves in relation to those aspects of their lives. The horses tend to play out the human’s life stories, and then show us or provide opportunities to change what those stories look like.

Horses do not know the past, education, gender, race or other labels that may apply to ourselves and others. They are in the moment and can be a part of this relationship without the bias humans put on each other. This provides even more value in the insight they can provide us.

There are some risks in being around horses due to their size and nature of being an animal. This is covered in the Liability Release Form.  It is important to understand the risks and benefits and to ask any questions which may arise about being involved in these services.