Why Horses?
Horses are large, social and emotional animals. Working around them requires patience, awareness, confidence and trust. Being prey animals, horses' innate instinct to survive drives them to seek out honesty and truth in every situation they are in. They are experts at recognizing and reading body language and emotion not only in other horses and animals but in people as well.
Horses are much like humans in that they are social creatures. They each have a distinctive personality and have an established hierarchy among their herd mates. Interacting with horses' offers clients opportunities for self awareness and relationship building. It presents unique challenges and leads to a sense of accomplishment that will carry over into real life situations and long term relationship development.
Equine Assisted Growth and Learning (EAGAL) provides clients an experiential learning opportunity in a natural environment. Outside the confines of a therapist office and in a corral or pasture, clients often feel more relaxed and less inhibited. These types of sessions feel more like fun than therapy and the result is often a more emotionally open session. EAGAL provides a pathway into less approachable issues and offers a platform for serious reflection.
Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue, located on 46 private acres, provides a beautiful and natural environment for this important work. We have approximately 130 horses living at our facility, many of which have struggled with abuse and neglect and have learned to build trusting relationships in this patient and loving atmosphere. Lifesavers also offers a covered, lighted arena that provides protection from the elements so that sessions can be conducted no matter the weather. We can also offer you professional, highly experienced and well trained equine staff to ensure the best possible experience for all.
Lifesavers, Inc. is currently seeking licensed MFTs interested in becoming part of our facilitation team as well as therapists interested in referring clients for experiential learning.
Please contact Chris Vilmer, Vice President, for more information. (661) 727-1205
