Legendary horseman Ray Hunt helped people understand that the horse is a thinking, feeling, decision-making animal, and each one has a distinct personality. They are social animals who prefer to be with their peers and communicate predominately through non-verbal cues such as body language, energies, and behaviour. They are non-judgmental and live in the moment. Horses are a prey animal and as a result have a heightened sensitivity to any subtle changes in their environment, including human behaviour. They tend to flee from perceived danger or change. These attributes give important feedback to the EAPL team when observing the horse interact with the client and vice versa.

In the documentary Buck (2011), horseman Buck Brannaman says “Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.” Horses are very responsive to human emotion and actions, reflecting back your feelings, thoughts and intentions, even if you try to hide them. For example, if someone is scared to approach the horse but is acting as though they are not frightened, the horse will feel the conflicting energy within the person, become be very wary and may not allow the person to come near them. When the person acknowledges their fear their whole body language or energy can change, they become more ‘honest’ to the horse and as a result the horse may trust them to come closer. This feedback is immediate to the client, and can create great metaphors for discussion or activities which effectively assists people to take responsibility for their emotions, decisions, actions and choices.

Horses are valuable members of the facilitation team during the in the EAPL process. Horses are used as co-facilitators to help the client understand more about themselves and their current life issues, the mental health professional and equine specialists predominately observe the actions and reactions of the horse, as well as the client’s responses and behaviours during activities. This interaction with horses can allow many feelings, emotions and issues to surface giving the client valuable information to help them find answers to their current life situations or issues.

EAPL is a very powerful therapy that can help change lives, but this form of therapy would not be possible if not for the honesty and the natural feedback of the horse.

Horses really can help humans heal, all we need to do is want to.

The sadness of the news was weighing heavy on my heart and I didn’t know what to do to help relieve the pain. I was looking out my kitchen window and saw the horses had come up for a drink, their water trough is just outside the house yard fence. I went over and sat down on the side of the trough. One by one all nine of them came over and touched me with their nose, two of them stayed with me and one of them put his head on my shoulder and left it there.

It was such a healing time, exactly what I needed to help me lift the overwhelming sadness, it was like I had a link to my sister through the horses and it made me smile. I was better able to cope with my grief after that but I couldn’t help wondering how they knew. Why did they all make a point of touching me? Did they know that they could make a difference? I have no idea but I do know that they touched me deeper than just skin level. Sometimes we don’t need words, sometimes a touch can say so much more.

I painted a picture for Carol of a horse watching a pelican fly away. Carol had a love of pelicans, to her they symbolised many specials things, and now they remind me of her. I finished the painting within half an hour of getting the news that Carol had flown away. It hangs on my kitchen wall, a constant memory of my beautiful sister and of the day my horses helped me say goodbye.

I miss you Carol, not a day goes by that I don’t think of you. x

Blue Moons are known for their strong energy and are an ideal time for setting goals and changing habitual behaviours. Ideally we would like to offer our retreats literally under the Blue Moon but this is not always possible. Blue Moons (that is, two full moons in the one month) do not necessarily happen every year  - hence the saying ‘once in a blue moon’.

When there is no Blue Moon we will organise the weekend retreat around the Full Moon which is also a wonderful time for change. The Full Moon phase, along with the peaceful and nurturing natural setting, are ideal for helping you let go of your daily fears and judgements, and allowing you to concentrate on accepting and loving the amazing Woman you are. The Waning moon (the phase after the Full Moon) is the time for working on removing the things you no longer want in your life, perhaps letting go of unhelpful thought patterns or behaviours using techniques and skills you learn during the Blue Moon weekend.

Using Equine Facilitated Therapy; Meditation; Mindfulness, Resilience and Positive Self-Talk techniques and creative arts, we will help you celebrate the magic of Women and embrace the Goddess within.

Be all that you can be!

• Do low self esteem and feelings of anxiety impact on your day to day enjoyment of life?
• Do you feel restricted by negative thoughts about your self and your abilities?
• Do you feel powerless to say what you want, do what you want, achieve what you want?

This weekend retreat has the potential to change your life as you explore different techniques to still your mind, tame your negative self-talk, and tap into your creative and beautiful self. Embrace the Challenge, Embrace the Process, Embrace your Inner Goddess.

Due to the nature of the individual sessions and the workshop objectives, the number of places are limited to eight women.

Please register for this workshop by clicking on this link

Go to the Blue Moon website »»

This weekend is made possible with the support of Equine Time, an Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Learning group who’s vision is to improve the mental health of regional communities through the psychological intervention of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Learning. Please visit their website to find out more. www.equinetime.com.au

A blue moon will occur on 31st August this year. We are planning another weekend to coincide with this event in the Newcastle area, please register your interest by clicking on this link.

Both facilitators are EAGALA certified and follow the EAGALA model. For further information visit www.eagala.org

How does she knows whats happening before it happens?

I often wonder how our animals know we are going to do something before it actually happens? My little dog Pat, knows exactly where I am going and when. I work from home and she knows I am going to my office, which is off the verandah. I can walk past her on my way to the office and she doesn’t get up, she continues sleeping or rolling in the grass or playing with our other dog Mister. But then I finish my work and think I might go and get my horse to go for a ride. The moment I get up from my chair she is jumping up and down at the door waiting for me to go. I have gotten up from my desk several times through the day to get a cup of tea, have lunch, stretch or whatever and she doesn’t make a fuss so how does she know?

A couple of days ago I had to get in the ute to drive to a paddock where four of my horses are kept and I walked out the door to find Pat already sitting up in the ute. How the heck did she know I was going to go somewhere in it.

My sister talks about her dog Snoopy, a sheepdog she had when she was younger, Snoopy would know when the school bus was due home and would be waiting at the gate for her but she also knew when my sister wasn’t on the bus and wouldn’t bother going to the gate. How did she know?

One day a friend came out to visit with her son Pete and daughter Janet, who has severe disabilities. Janet wasn’t in a good mood that day and was quite aggravated. She sat on our lounge but wasn’t very happy or settled. Pat just went over, pushed Janet’s hands aside with her nose and sat up on her lap. It didn’t take long before Janet became calm and quiet. How did Pat know to do that?

Horses are the same. How do they know that you are going somewhere before you start to prepare them for the trip. Even before I get the horse float hooked to the ute or prepare anything else they become agitated. How do they know today is different?

How does a horse know your emotions, they are different around you if you are angry or anxious. They are different around a child then they are around an adult. You often hear people say that the horse plays up with the adult riding them but is gentle as a lamb when a child rides them. How do they know when you need support and to stay with you today, when yesterday they just wandered off without even noticing you?

I don’t know but I would love to. I suppose that they are still in tune with their basic instincts and their intuition, we humans have pushed that aside and are no longer aware of the so called ‘sixth sense’. I personally am fascinated by it and I want to find out how to get back in touch with myself, my surroundings and my emotions. I think I could be a much better person if I was more aware, more mindful and more open. I’m working on it

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...show me what you want and I will try

My dad once told me,’there are horsemen and there are horsepeople, never get the two mixed up’. I had no idea what he meant.  He was a ‘horseman’ himself, he’d been around horses all his life, made his living from them and with them. His father and his father before him were all horsemen

For years I thought anyone who could ride well was a horseman, people who have been around horses for a long time are often described as horseman. I respected and wanted to learn from these people until I started to realise that what they did wasn’t that clever. Sure they could ride well and get the horse to do what they wanted but there was something missing.

In most cases, what is missing is empathy. The horse was not treated as an intelligent, thinking, feeling being, in fact when a horse showed its intelligence it was often labelled as stupid. Why? Because he wasn’t doing what the human expected him to do. How can undoing the lead, opening a gate, or going under a low branch to get the rider off be stupid? That’s clever. That’s thinking. But that’s not acceptable to the human, the horse is supposed to be a dumb animal and if he doesn’t do what the human wants then he is punished. Often he’s not even shown what to do, he’s told, and when he has no idea of what is required he gets spurs jabbed in his belly or his mouth jerked or belted with the whip.

I liken it to a child in kindergarten where the teacher asks the child to write a letter and not in those great big scribbly lines, do it neatly in calligraphy! How can a child do that when they haven’t even learned to hold a crayon, let alone know how to make the shapes of letters. If the child doesn’t understand and just makes a few scribbles do you belt him? And after a good belting will the child then be able to do it? I don’t think so. He has to be shown and taught what to do, a good teacher will help him learn, guide him along, encourage him and in return the child will want to get it right and do the best for his teacher. The same is true for horses.

I look at my horses, some of them damaged by the hands of humans, and I feel sad. They are such a beautiful being who choose to be with us, yet we abuse that privilege. When you think about it, a horse doesn’t really have to put up with the things we do, he can easily cause us great harm if it felt so inclined. So why don’t they? Why do they tolerate the human and their egos?

I often ponder that question. Why do they put up with the ignorant, egotistical and often abusive ways? I don’t know and it breaks my heart to see it, but what I do know is that if you give the horse the opportunity they will give you far more than you can ever imagine.

I now understand what my dad was trying to tell me, I will never get the two mixed up again. There are many horsepeople out there, but the true horsemen are the people that understand and respect a horse mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. If they don’t have that they don’t have the horse.

…and I whispered to the horse; “Trust no man in whose eye you do not see yourself reflected as an equal” Don Vincenzo Giobbe  Circa 1700

Thank you dad for bringing horses into my life. I know you are with me when I ride but I still miss you.

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Is it my imagination or are my tea leaves in the shape of a horse?

I made myself a pot of tea this morning, I poured a cup and put the strainer down on the chopping board. When I finished my tea I came back into the kitchen to clean up my mess, that’s when I noticed the horse.

What does it mean?
I googled it and found a couple of meanings, the first being; strength, travel, grave, desires fulfilled through a prosperous journey.  The second one said that if the horse was galloping it meant good news, I think its galloping!

I don’t know if reading tea leaves works for tea in strainers, but if I am in for some good news then may that be that my journey to the grave allows me to continue to find strength from horses as they help me travel along my path, and may the prosperity be the riches I gain from the experiences I have with horses most days of my life!

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I thought about Rhys, a little friend who has severe disabilities, and how he sat so well on the horse that morning when we took him for a ride, the same horse I was sitting on now. I wondered what he was thinking, he and Winnie obviously understood each other. I wished I could communicate with him as well.

I thought about Winnie and how she came over to Rhys and nuzzled him through the fence. How my little dog wanted to sit on his lap and the other pup we have wanted to play with him and lick his face. They all seemed to understand each other but on a different level than I can comprehend. I would love to be in tune enough to be able to get into the conversation with them all.

People like Rhys may not have all the abilities that most of us have but I’m sure he has so much more ability in areas we have no idea of. I see that when I watch the animals communicate with him with no obvious barriers.

I believe that horses really warm to kids no matter what the ability because, generally speaking, kids are pure of heart, they have no hidden agenda when they go for a ride, they don’t need to prove themselves to anyone, all they want is to ride the horse and have fun. No pressure to perform, no spurs, whips or jerking heads… kids usually don’t do this until an adult tells them to.

Imagine if everyone treated horses like children do, if we all just loved them and appreciated them for the amazing being that they are, they would hang out with us because they want to. The famous horseman, Ray Hunt said “You get out what you put in” and I think that he is spot on.

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Agarn from F Troop

They say that what you dreamed of being or doing as a child is what you should pursue in your adult years. Well, all I can remember wanting, dreaming and longing for was to be like Agarn off F Troop, (a wacky western comedy 60′s TV series) I can’t for the life of me work that out now. For those who never watched the show, Agarn was a major klutz! go figure! I used to dream of being in the cavalry, wearing the uniform, riding a horse and sending smoke signals to the indians. Now that I’m older… a lot older, I wonder what that meant.  My husband says, “why Agarn, why not Calamity Jane?” well, I don’t know, maybe I should get a copy of F Troop and take a look, it might give me a few clues about my self…. hmm, then maybe not.

We left our farm and moved to suburbia not long after my mishap with Fairy, don’t know what happened to her, guess she was sold. The only time I got to ride a horse then was when mum finally gave in to my begging and paid for an hour trail ride at a tin pot riding school. I can still remember the smell of the horses and the excitement of riding along the side of the road on an old hairy horse in a great big saddle. I’d pretend I was in uniform with a gun on my hip and I swear I saw smoke signals coming over the hill, I was in heaven for an hour. It kept me going until I could con mum again.

After a few years of living in town mum and dad bought a small property when I was about 11, I finally had a horse again. She was a real challenge and at the time I thought she was just mean but now that I understand horses a little more I know that she wasn’t mean, she was just doing what horses do. It was only my ignorance that made me feel that way. She taught me to respect horses that’s for sure, but she also taught me to ride, to persevere and to keep at it no matter what the challenge. Those lessons have stood me in good stead during some pretty rough patches in my life so, she wasn’t mean, she was just a good teacher.

So now after recalling my dreams as a child I’m feeling a little bit disturbed. I’m going to make it a mission to get a copy of F Troop to try and figure what was I thinking!  Maybe if I watch it again I will find a deeper understanding of what my goal in life really is… or at least why I have suppressed it all these years.

For the moment I know that my goal is to start an Equine Facilitated Learning Centre so I can work with my horses to help others as well as myself. I have so much regard for the horse and the lessons they have to teach us. I am privileged to have 12 horses in my life at the moment and they are all with me for a reason, I guess I’ll find out why on my travels through life, its a journey and one I’m looking forward to.

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"We liked this saddle, it was great for all of us to move in"

For years I have wanted a Balance saddle and finally I am doing it!! I am ording a new saddle, but before I do that I need to have the saddle fitted for my horses. Last week Mel Fleming, (who is not only a wonderful, intuitive horsewoman but is also the Aussie agent for Balance), came to my place to do a saddle fit to be sure I get the most suitable style. I have several horses I ride and the saddle needs to suit most, if not all of them. Mel brought 3 saddles with her and I picked two horses that I ride the most.What was interesting is that the horses let us know what saddle they liked or not, as you rode in each saddle the horses moved willingly and easily in the saddles they liked. There was one saddle that one of my horses really didn’t like and it was obvious in the way she moved and how her attitude changed.

The other thing that I found really interesting is that Mel could read my horses and tell me about their emotional state of mind which was causing discomfort to the horse and was showing up in behavioural patterns, patterns that I haven’t been able to change with much success. I hadn’t discussed any of the issues with one of the horses, but Mel had her pegged. She worked with us to help release emotions simply through the way I sat, how I breathed and what I thought which reflected in the way I rode. It was amazing to see the dramatic changes that this horse made in a very brief amount of time.

So out of a saddle fitting I not only got the best saddle for the job but I also got a lot of information about how my horses are feeling when I ride, what I do to get in their way and how I can help them make our riding a more pleasant experience. I think it also goes beyond riding, it carries through to their confidence in the herd and also to a deeper connection between us as well.

If you get a chance to have someone such as Mel, someone who has an infinity with horses on a deeper level than most, then take the opportunity. Its such a wonderful experience to feel the connection and the synchronisity that is possible when all are working together.

That is the question. What is the reason you want to save a horse? Is it to make a quick buck (no pun intended) or is it because you genuinely want to save this horse, boots ‘n all?

For me the question takes a lot of thought but when I commit then I commit for good.. or bad, and I think the same should go for the decision to purchase a horse!We have saved several horses for various reasons. Two of these are standardbreds (pictured) straight off the track. These horses certainly came to us with ‘baggage’ but that is something that you take into consideration when you decide to take these horses on, part of the rehabilitation that you commit to is helping the horse work through his ‘baggage’ and allow him to live a good life. That to me is what rescuing is all about, and again, the same should go for any horse, not matter how you ended up with them.

We also have two pony mares that were off to the doggers, the owners could no longer have them because they were moving interstate. They were in foal at the time so we ended up with four. They were frightened ponies and they had lots of ‘baggage’ but we worked through that. One day they might make a great ponies for our grandkids but if not it doesn’t matter. What I really enjoy is watching them learn to trust the human, to let go of their fears and to want to be around us, that to me is just so rewarding.

I object to the insinuation that buying a horse off the track is only asking for trouble. I have paid a lot of money for three horses in the past 10 years, all very well bred from reputable breeders and let me tell you that those horses, and one was only 22 months, came to me with far more ‘baggage’ both physically and mentally, than the Standardbreds.

I also thought I would breed a horse so that ‘I knew what I was getting’, not so. The gelding I have as a result is very well bred for sure, but he has problems from an accident he had as a foal, something we couldn’t have prevented. So, in my experience, you can’t say that there is a right or a wrong way to acquire a horse, they come into our lives in all sorts or ways for lots of reasons. I also believe that all horses that are handled by humans will have ‘baggage’ in one form or another.

I don’t put the clock on when I am with these horses, I don’t care how long it takes and I don’t keep tabs. What I get back from my equine friends far outweighs the cost of time spent in helping them rid their ‘baggage’. In fact they probably help me far more than I can possibly help them. Nothing gives me more pleasure than knowing I have played a part in giving these horses a good life.

I don’t care for competitions and winning the blue ribbon either, I’ll take a pleasure ride through the bush any day and I bet if my horses could talk they’d agree. All I want in my life is harmony and contentment, and I feel pretty confident that the horse wants that as well.

Whether you breed your own horse, buy a horse from a breeder or save one off the track, you get out what you put in. Time, trust, patience and love are the key to helping a horse and if you don’t have any of those qualities then you are probably better off with a motorbike!

It all comes back to intentions, what is yours with your horse? is it to make money? Is it to win ribbons? Is it to have the best looking horse? or is it to be part of the horses life? For me its the later and its a privilege that they allow me in. My horses are so much a part of my life, even the expensive, well bred ones with all the ‘baggage’. They are my friends, and they are my teachers, all of them. None of them are useless and all of them have taught me something.

If you really want to help your horses, then I suggest you go to a course with someone like Mel Fleming, a fabulous, intuitive horsewoman who has devoted her life to helping make this world a better place for the horse. The knowledge you will gain from Mel will change the way you think about horses… if you are open to it.

We think the horses have all the ‘baggage’ but when you really start to look it becomes obvious that its not about the horse, they don’t carry anywhere near the ‘baggage’ that the human does! Perhaps they carry the ‘baggage’ for the human?

What did Winston Churchill’s really mean in his quote, ‘There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man’?

… and Ray Hunt says: ‘You’re not working on the horse, you’re working on yourself”.

I think these quotes are worth pondering.