Equine Assisted Learning (EAL)

Equine Assisted Learning can benefit people of all ages and backgrounds by creating opportunities for growth, reflection, skill building, and connection through interactions with horses.

Programs may be helpful for:

Business leaders, teams, and organizations seeking meaningful team-building and leadership development experiences
Children and teens challenged with social skills, confidence, emotional regulation, or classroom behavior
Individuals looking to strengthen self-awareness, self-esteem, communication, or personal growth
Groups interested in building skills such as mindfulness, self-care, confidence, or connection.

Because every individual and group has unique goals, programs can be tailored to meet specific needs in either group or individual settings. Contact us at EAL@horseandbuddy.org for more information.

EAL can help with many life skills including:

Leadership
Trust
Boundary Setting
Self-awareness
Problem Solving
Communication
Mindfulness

Collaboration
Intention Setting
Interpersonal Skills
Focus
Empathy
Emotional Intelligence
Adaptability

Team Building

Mindfulness Retreat

We can also customize an offering for an individual or a team. Contact us at EAL@horseandbuddy.org for more information!

How does EAL work?

“In all, horses provide us with a way to see our internal landscape and modes of operation exposed. They offer us the opportunity to experience humility, compassion and challenge - all critical elements to supporting self-growth and self-awareness.”
- Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl.)

As social prey animals, horses are constantly living in the present moment and aware of their surroundings, including the non-verbal cues and behavior of humans.

Horses can provide real-time feedback, responding to our behavior and body language. This can help participants to better understand how their non-verbal communication or behavior impacts and influences others in their lives.

Horses ask us to be constantly present and self-aware, a state of mind that has become challenging in a world where life is often focused on our to-do list or the next thing on our agenda.

When participants work with horses, improved self-awareness can reveal patterns of behavior and give participants an opportunity to think and behave in a new way. Furthermore, learning to work with such large and powerful animals is empowering.

What does a typical session look like?

In an EAL session participants work with a horse or horses to develop a desired life skill.

All equine activities are done on the ground, not on horseback, with a focus on the safety of all participants and a respectful partnership with the horse(s).

For example, activities could include working as a team to get a horse over a jump to elicit progress in communication, leadership, and teamwork; learning to care for and groom a horse to illustrate the importance of self-care, planning, and relationship-building; learning to move a horse at liberty around the ring to develop self-awareness and connection .

Unlike in other “ground school” horsemanship programs, EAL is ultimately focused on the personal, life skill goal of the participant over the goal of the activity.