When people think of therapy, they usually think of an older person, glasses sitting low on their nose and clipboard atop their crossed legs, while you lay on a couch or recliner hearing, "How does that make you feel?" after every statement. However, there a many types of therapy these days. One that few people have heard of is something called Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy.
As you can guess by the name, this type of therapy revolves around horses. Horses help people in a different way than that which is possible with other pets such as dogs, cats, etc.Some people have trouble seeing this because they think, dogs have packs, horses have herds, they both can sense our emotions--what's the difference? Horses are prey animals, where as dogs are predators. They have the fight-or-flight mentality. This helps people needing therapy relate to them. Both feel afraid of the unknown,they feel as if they are being attacked/watched all the time. Many people develope the fight-or-flight mentality during emotional trauma. This is what makes horses so great for therapy.
When undergoing this type of therapy, clients get to experience as many things related to horses as possible. At first they will learn basic horse care such as feeding, grooming, behavior, etc. They will then do ground work, longing, riding, vaulting, etc. Horses are known to improve confidence, balance, coordination, social skills, emotional stability, and much more.
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