With a little help from a horse

Cape Town 30-06 -14.Horse therapy- Ayanda communicates with horse Starlight Picture Brenton Geach

Cape Town 30-06 -14.Horse therapy- Ayanda communicates with horse Starlight Picture Brenton Geach

Published Jul 1, 2014

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Cape Town - A boy of about 9 years old walks confidently up to Starlight and engages with the horse, stroking its long neck.

He slowly leads the horse around the paddock.

Despite his young age, the boy looks after his younger sister as their parents can no longer look after them.

They live at Homes to Grow, a children’s home in Masiphumelele and he is participating in a programme run by the Equinox Trust where interaction with horses is used to empower people.

The Equinox Trust is a non-profit organisation working with people from orphanages, foster homes and abused women shelters to try to change their negative behavioural patterns. The programme offers “empowerment and support programmes to communities in need through interaction with horses”.

When the boy was introduced to horses, he was scared and did not want to go near them, but after a few meetings he became confident, approaching a horse on his own. When asked, he said he would like to ride one day, but not yet. The children’s names have been withheld to protect their privacy.

Nicola Michl-Johnston, a facilitator for the equine-assisted programme, shared the stories of some of the youths who have seen positive change in their lives through their experiences with the horses. “The horses help to empower individuals to change their feelings and attitudes towards their circumstances, in order for them to adopt appropriate ways to manage and create positive lives for themselves,” she explained.

A girl, who comes from a troubled background and has shut herself off from the world, has learned to trust and how to cope with her fears thanks to her time with the horses.

Michl-Johnston said the girl was “brought out of her shell” with the help of a horse who restored her self-esteem and confidence by patiently standing by her side.

Another young woman, a victim of violent circumstances, learned to combat feelings of negativity through “patience, forgiveness and determination”.

“It taught her to label what she feels in a situation and that she can choose how to respond and react,” Michl-Johnston said.

The Equinox Trust programme consists of a team consisting of “horses, a mental health professional and a horse expert”, who facilitate a process where clients interact with horses and are asked to work through tasks for which they must earn the trust of the horses. They do not ride the horses, but rather interact with them on foot.

“Working professionally in the field for the past five years, we have experienced how the powerful interactions between horses and humans have encouraged journeys of positive change within individuals,” said Michl-Johnston.

She added that horses communicate non-verbally which makes them experts in body language. People learn their behaviour which has a direct impact on their surroundings and when a horse is calm, they will happily follow you. This is a skill that can be applied to any social interaction.

“When we start interacting with horses, they respond and react to what we are communicating non-verbally too. The horse therefore becomes our direct mirror,” she said.

Facilitators observe the behaviour of the horses and the clients during their interactions and from that they can make “metaphorical links to their lives” which can help create awareness and the potential for change.

For details e-mail [email protected]

Cape Times

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