Equine Facilitated Learning

WHY HORSES?

Horses have gained valuable wisdom due to their long tenure on the planet as prey animals. Their system for thriving has been honed over the course of over 50 million years. 

Luckily they are willing to share this wisdom with us, their younger kin.

The horse has been able to thrive for so long because of their ability to connect, cooperate, and regulate through the collective power of the herd – each horse knowing their role; each contributing to the safety of the whole. The equine way of leadership, based on presence, authenticity and self responsibility enables the horses to know peace, joy and freedom; values we humans share.

The benefit of engaging with the horses in EFL is that they give immediate feedback when those values are present through nonverbal communication, providing the opportunity to experience what living those values feel like in the body; where learning becomes integrated into the whole self for lasting change.

Our philosophy at Owl Feather Farm is rooted in the latest scientific research in the study of equine - human connection, neuroscience and the principles of ecopsychology, restorative practices and creative process. All of these ways of knowing recognize that we are networks of relationship and not things. The primacy of connection to self, other and community before action is the central focus of our offerings. This is experienced most potently when interacting with our generous equine partners who value connection above all else because it represents safety. The horses are able to reflect back to us when we are in that life affirming zone of connectivity. They help us know when our doing is empty of our being; whether our behavior is sourced from fracturedness or wholeness. By engaging with the horses we can discover all that we have to give and receive by truly and fully being ourselves. 

” When you make a small change in yourself the horses immediately let you know.”
- Participant

Horses are large animals with a large presence that is easily felt. They are messengers from deep time, speaking to us without words in a language we once knew. By engaging in active, conscious relationship with them we can recover our innate wisdom, creativity and capacity for resilience that often get trampled by the complexity of modern life. And these are the very qualities and abilities we need to navigate that complexity.