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Demonstration of Horsemanship and Equine Assisted Learning Thursday 24th July 2010 People travelled from the UK and the Republic of Ireland to see International horseman, Steve Halfpenny demonstrate his methods of working with horses at Intouch Equestrian, County Armagh and take part in some equine assisted learning activities, led by EAQ founder, Tricia Day. Equine assisted learning is about the interaction between the horse and the human. Often the humans have no knowledge of horses and Steve was able to demonstrate how to help horses become braver and safer for learners to be around, without making them so 'dull' that they lose the behaviours that enable them to be such effective teachers. One of the roles of the facilitator is to ensure that learners stay safe and horses are left in a 'good' place emotionally when the session has ended and that horses are not learning things that are best avoided. Horses learn a pattern of behaviour very quickly and the more horses are allowed to interact with learners, the more their behaviour will change. These changes are bound to happen over time, especially if the same or similar exercises are suggested to learners on a regular basis. We discussed how participants might choose a horse to take part in equine assisted learning activities and the implications for the horse and the learner of their choice. The first horse that the group chose for Steve to work with was a dun mare. She was quite pushy and kept trying to barge into Steve with her shoulder. He was able to show some exercises to the group that would help this mare stay out of his space, allowing him to be safer around her. The second horse was a little 2 year old skewbald filly. She was completely different as she had received hardly any handling. Steve used his skills of observation, feel, timing and balance to help her become more confident. When Steve works with a horse he is looking for a connection with that horse. Not a physical connection like one might have through pulling on the leadrope, but more of a mental connection that comes from being in tune. Steve wants to have the connection with the horse without the leadrope. William Irwin, Member of the Local Assembly, came along to lend his support and was particularly interested in this cost-effective intervention, especially the work that Tricia has done with horses, helping offenders in prison with anger management and behaviour modification. The afternoon session had all participants working in pairs with horses and learning more about how the experience helped them to become more self aware. Feedback from the session included: "It's been an amazing day for me. I'd never thought of handling horses in this way, but it makes complete sense." "Steve makes it look so easy." "I can't wait to get home and try some of these skills on my own horses." "I want to train to be a facilitator so this was a great way for me to learn what's expected."   |
