Children and Young Adults

Horses are amazing facilitators in the world of human development.  They are intelligent, generous and sensitive, and respond to both positive and negative changes in their handler’s behavior, offering constant and immediate feedback to your actions and emotions.

Horses in their natural environment live together in a herd. They are prey animals and communicate both energetically and through body language in an almost empathic way. Listening to and watching these subtle communications from the horse can give us insight into our own internal and external world. Natural horse training methods, used by horse whispers, use the horses own communication system to work in partnership with the horse for a greater level of understanding from both trainer and horse.

Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) uses these same methods with a trained horse which allows the participant to build a relationship with the horse. Such effective communication offers positive rewards, enhancing self esteem & confidence.

An EFL session involves the person working with the horse or pony on the ground, in a countryside environment, developing trust, control, communication and relationships. It takes place within a round pen or barn. This provides an enclosed, safe area where the person and their selected horse or pony can spend time working together and create a bond.

Results can occur very quickly with the person acknowledging the importance of their body postures, gestures, breathing and voice. Once they can use these skills effectively the horse will respond accordingly and the possibilities for further development increases.

For a child or young person or adult who typically controls very little of their own environment, or is not performing well in mainstream education,  EFL is very empowering. Self-awareness and increased self esteem quickly follow and our trained facilitators build on this to develop further skills and qualities.

EFL can assist with:

• Building confidence and self-esteem
• Improving leadership abilities
• Setting goals
• Building trust
• Understanding emotions and the messages they contain
• Enhancing relationship skills with humans and animals
• Increasing body awareness and natural  intuitive abilities
• Rediscovering your life’s direction and purpose
• Dealing with depression, addiction and recovering from trauma  – helping you move from surviving to thriving

Enhance your self-esteem and confidence, find out more about EFL today.