Take a peek behind the scenes of Equine Assisted Learning
We recently interviewed Janelle Duhon, our Executive Director, about why she LOVES horses so much and how her new Equine Assisted Learning Program helps people become confident leaders of their own life.
Read our full interview with Janelle below.
Q: Do you feel comfortable giving an example of how you have changed through being an EAL participant?
J: Horses have always been part of my life. While I was in my practicum for EAL I learned a lot about myself. For instance, sometimes I think I communicate something clearly to employees and one person will understand but another will not. In the EAL exercise ‘Who is the brain’ I had to stand back and explain to my Left Brain and Right Brain (other participants) how to use a horse wrap to wrap a horse's leg giving incredibly detailed instructions. I had to clearly articulate everything so that it would be clear to both the Left Brain and Right Brain participants. I had to instruct the Right Brain to pick up the wrap from the Left for every single wrap around the horse's leg. As my team worked, I saw that I was making assumptions about what people would understand. It was very thought-provoking and intense because you had to be very, very clear. They wouldn’t do anything that was not specifically described.
Horses need good leaders. One of the reasons I wanted to provide EAL is because I am a great leader for a horse, but maybe not always great with leading a team of people.
Q: What EAL exercise has been impactful to you personally? Why?
J: Pressure and Release. In my practicum, we were a group of people trying to get the horse to step on a particular number. It was too much and the horse wasn’t responding. When we backed off and gave the horse some space, released the pressure, the horse was responsive. You can apply this to your own life.
Q: How does EAL help people build confidence?
J: EAL teaches people the importance of learning trust and building respectful relationships. EAL helps develop confidence by building non-verbal communication. For example, the horse will have its ears pinned back and head held high. This means the horse senses anger or fear and wants something to go away. If the ears are straight sideways, look out, something is going to happen. While a participant will have their arms crossed which is an indicator of a closed posture. EAL helps people become aware of how you communicate and listen, both verbally and nonverbally..
Also, Some people may start by being intimidated by the size of the horse. By developing the ability to set boundaries and communicate better they gain confidence.
Q: How does EAL help people become better communicators?
J: A horse has no judgment. They have no prefrontal cortex so they do not know how to judge you or love you. Their body language will tell you what they are feeling. Learning how to communicate with a 2000 pound animal is pretty incredible. Sometimes as humans we make assumptions about what people know, but the horse is not going to know. The horse does not have the ability to know what assumptions are. Instead, the horse picks up on energy. Horses are extremely sensitive, aware of their surroundings and quick to react. If we are not effectively communicating our needs or wants and are basing things on assumptions we have a train wreck working with the horse. The lack of communication can cause chaos. Horses can discern the difference between a calm, non-threatening approach and an anxious, nervous energy. Horses bring out the best in ourselves. Horses make us earn little bits of knowledge with great effort on our behalf.
The horse’s body language will show you when they are unsure of what to do. The same thing is true when I am running a staff meeting and everyone is paying attention versus multitasking and doing other things. Every one of the situations in EAL you can tie back to your everyday life. Horses will respond to humans' attitudes and moods of confusion, contradictory behaviors, frustration, aggression and passiness. Horses react to stimuli. Horses can’t lie and can’t overthink a situation. They approach humans honestly. Horses have the intuitive ability to identify messages humans unknowingly send when approaching and interacting. Horses react to verbal messages and non verbal body language.
For a lot of us, we have all these rules and regulations we need to abide by. Sometimes as we’re trying to dot every “i” and cross every “t” we forget to communicate exactly what is happening in the moment. The purpose gets lost in the workflow and all of a sudden we have misunderstandings. I have found that EAL really helps build awareness of times when pressure or expectations prevent us from communicating effectively.
Q: How does EAL help people kickstart positive change?
J: It is all about understanding and learning how to trust. Developing trust, positive relationships, how to communicate and be creative, learning how to problem-solve without fear of failure.
A horse can pick up your heartbeat from 4 feet away from you. So if you are amped up, the horse is going to be uneasy.
When you are working with the horse it is not about the horse or the obstacle. It is about the process and the objective. Here’s an example: when I went to Montana they put all of us facilitators with one horse. They wanted us to have the horse step on certain colored spots laid out in front of us. As a team we decided working together was a rule. The objective was choice. We decided as a team we could not tell the horse what to do. So I backed away and so did someone else. We made a choice to alter the obstacle course to fit what we were able to do. We got a positive outcome even if it wasn’t exactly what was originally planned. Through collaborative teamwork and creativity, we succeeded.
Q: Why do you love helping people build better communication with EAL?
J: It is just so much fun to see people working together!
Q: How is EAL different from other modalities for creating change in a person’s life?
J: Well, most importantly people get the opportunity to work with animals! Horses plus the objective based exercises plus effective facilitation plus experiential learning equals positive change. A key component to successfully implementing a strong EAL program comes with realizing how the fundamental principles are applied to the horse/human experience.
Horses don’t judge you. The first time you walk up to a horse or a horse walks up to you they know how you are feeling. For example, my husband was having neck and shoulder tension after digging so many post holes on our ranch. Rose (one of our horses) would come over to him and start nuzzling his neck and shoulders right away. Horses do this for each other too. It’s something that helps them to release.
When we work with horses, we actually do a “sweeping'' technique with them when we are done facilitating a session so that the horse does not take on any trauma or negative emotion that the humans may have brought into the session. We rub their withers to help them relax and thank them for being amazing teachers! Rose will react immediately. She lowers her head and starts licking, chewing and yawning. This is a sign of releasing and processing.
Warmly,
Kelsey
Kelsey Brasseur, INHC
Recovery Resources Program Director
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