Equine Assisted Coaching Concept for the Competitive Rider - Input Please

[Bearhunter]

I am in the process of becoming a certified equine assisted coach. I currently do some work for an equine assisted therapy non profit (EAGALA based) which has given me valuable knowledge, insight, and experience. My goal is to eventually establish my own equine assisted coaching business. I am posting here asking the h/j community, to help with suggestions or input on what I feel could be an asset for riders, particularly adult amateurs and re-riders. I hope to focus my coaching program on competitive equestrians, off their horses and working on the ground with therapy horses; addressing issues holding them back from success in their riding.

Our belief system, negativity, trauma, fear, and a myriad of other emotions and behaviors can become ingrained in any of us. Our brain is brilliant at burying problems and painful feelings but unless resolved, they will manifest in another form. And as we all know, horses, being FEELING beings foremost, react, often subtly at first, by disconnecting with us. This disconnection from our equine partner leads to frustration but the truth is our horse is mirroring any misalignment within us. Talk therapy and sports psychology is great but it is mainly cognitive and puts the rider back in their head, away from their heart, away from feeling which is how the horse ultimately connects with us. Working with a therapy horse who mirrors us, helps us not only connect with our feelings, it reminds us of the connection we seek as a rider to our own equine partner.

So, my question is: is there a need for this? What areas do you think could be best addressed? Any input would be great.

[Pocket_Pony]

My first reaction to this is based on programs I’ve seen. If you are focusing solely on human-horse interaction and not on riding (as I’ve seen in other programs, but also have seen therapeutic riding programs that do focus on riding), then what I’ve witnessed is that those are most used by people who don’t actually have experience with horses; or, people who already have soft and fluffy feelings about horses or who are already into Parelli or something like that.

I think for the serious person who wants to compete (or does already compete) you are going to find a smaller market for that. That’s not to say it isn’t possible, but you are going to have a smaller group of people to choose from because people with their own horses already think they know it all! :winkgrin: :lol:

Seriously, though. I think programs like that are valuable tools, but probably moreso for people who don’t already understand horse language - so rehab programs, troubled youth, PTSD, veterans, etc. I’d imagine people who are serious about showing want to win. And people who want to win are more likely to seek out a sports psychologist first.

Would you plan to work with people and your own therapy horses? Or would you work with people and their own horses? I think it would be more helpful with a horse person to help them with their own horses than one of yours. What do YOU have to offer the person? What are your credentials? Results? How do you plan to sequence a session?

My own general observation of people is that the people who need this most are the people who are least going to understand they need this - in other words, the people who drive their horses crazy and teach their horses to tune out are pretty oblivious to their own behavior. How do you get to those people?

How are you different than a NH trainer (a good one, not PP - could be someone like BB, or someone that nobody has heard of) who helps people get results with their horses?

What will be different about you?

[Bearhunter]

Thank you for your input! You have asked some poignant and important questions. I ultimately agree with you that the people that could most benefit from the work are the ones most oblivious to the effect of their behavior on their horses. My idea isn’t about changing horses’ behavior or how we work with them per say (NH), but rather helping fellow riders, using the horse as the guide, the mirror, and the metaphor. As a certified equine assisted educator, a certified coach (ICF), a lifetime competitive equestrian and someone who has overcome incredible challenges with the help of horses (i.e. rare brain tumor and it’s manifestations on behavior), I feel qualified to do this work.

I feel using therapy horses that I know will work best for certain exercises, though many exercises can be done with a client’s horse.

As far as what will be different about me? Hmm, not really sure but so far the people I have worked with have had positive experiences. Some of the most common horsemanship exercises (leading a horse, for example) can become incredibly challenging even to the most accomplished equestrian when you ask them to make declarations about themselves. Through this work my intuition has been heightened, that is for sure. I believe if I offer a service that is worthwhile to someone, someone else will come.

[mvp]

I’m trying to figure out what you are offering. So you mean something like equine-assisted psychotherapy… for competitive riders who, perhaps have some kind of PTSD (or low self-esteem or fear) that keeps them from riding well?

I guess I see you as akin to a sports psychologist, but with the equine-assisted therapy part. Do I have that right?

[QUOTE=Bearhunter;8823753]
Some of the most common horsemanship exercises (leading a horse, for example) can become incredibly challenging even to the most accomplished equestrian when you ask them to make declarations about themselves. [/QUOTE]

But reading this, I can’t figure out what problems you think your competitive rider has, or what you can offer to fix for them. To wit: I think most of us feel we lead horses competently and can’t figure out what we are missing that you could show us via this kind of exercise.

Can you restate your offering from the perspective of a rider who is stuck somehow? For instance, can you offer something to the rider who rides great at home and then tightens up at shows so badly that she causes her horse to stop at fences in the show ring?

[Bearhunter]

Yes, akin to a sports psychologist but rather than talking it out, or being COGNITIVE, using the equine assisted, FEELING approach.

How often does a rider lose connection with their horse and can’t figure out why? Starts slowly and things go from bad to worse? For example, the rider that suddenly starts pulling and adding in lines. We know the horse will react. What if nothing has changed with the horse, his training? The rider is going through financial troubles but doesn’t realize that this stress is being transferred to her ride. Our daily life is mirrored in our rides.

As far as the leading exercise - take a COMPETENT horse person who for example has low self esteem and little self worth. With a horse (halter and lead) have her make a verbal declaration to herself and the horse, “I am worthy” and then walk forward. Chances are the horse will not move. I have seen this countless times and it is unbelievable. Doesn’t matter the declaration or the intent. If we do not believe something in our heart, the horse knows. Our mind tries to cover up feelings with our horses, but they have the best b.s meter there is.

[leatheralter]

Hmmmm…I think the first example would be addressed by my trainer (who probably wouldn’t appreciate “another professional” butting in).

[mvp]

[QUOTE=Bearhunter;8823949]
Yes, akin to a sports psychologist but rather than talking it out, or being COGNITIVE, using the equine assisted, FEELING approach.

How often does a rider lose connection with their horse and can’t figure out why? Starts slowly and things go from bad to worse? For example, the rider that suddenly starts pulling and adding in lines. We know the horse will react. What if nothing has changed with the horse, his training? The rider is going through financial troubles but doesn’t realize that this stress is being transferred to her ride. Our daily life is mirrored in our rides.

As far as the leading exercise - take a COMPETENT horse person who for example has low self esteem and little self worth. With a horse (halter and lead) have her make a verbal declaration to herself and the horse, “I am worthy” and then walk forward. Chances are the horse will not move. I have seen this countless times and it is unbelievable. Doesn’t matter the declaration or the intent. If we do not believe something in our heart, the horse knows. Our mind tries to cover up feelings with our horses, but they have the best b.s meter there is.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the clarification.

I think you can find a market for this kind thing, but it will be a small one. To my reckoning, that’s because people who are competing already have trainers who will see the cause of a misbehaving horse or bad riding as having a different source. As with the horse who won’t lead because of whatever is going on in the rider’s sub-conscious, the trainer will tune up the horse. And most riders will agree with this location of the problem.

That said, I’ll bet you can find some riders who want to go around their trainer’s way of looking at things and get the kind of feel-based work you are offering.

Remember, however, that most people who are experienced enough to be competing are steeped in the ideas that the horse needs to be trained and that the rider’s body and mind (but perhaps not her psyche) need to be trained. If you can explain in those terms what you have to offer and how it makes an effective adjunct, you may find a way into the market.

ETA: Perhaps I’m not your market because I’d never explicitly marry my measure of self-worth to whether or not a horse goes forward when I ask. Sure, I have to have some measure of credibility with myself in order to believe that I can ask a horse to obey me. But my way of leading a horse forward (or imposing my will on one at all) has more to do with my feeling that I have mastered some skills that insure that I can get that done and not something so global as my basic self-worth. If I’m typical, I think you can find people who ride (and even who show a bit) whose riding is undermined by something as pervasive as low self-esteem. But that might not be at high levels. IME, you work that stuff out as you decide to compete at increasingly high levels in a sport. It takes some chutzpah to do that!

[Bearhunter]

mvp - I used the example of the self worth for the leading exercise. Perhaps not the best example as I do believe there are areas where everyone lacks a certain conviction or declaration about what they think they believe and what they truly believe. Another example. You know the feeling when you have convinced your self of something? You have made your mind up that something is true or right, but there is that nagging feeling in your gut that it isn’t? Everyone knows this and we can fight it at varying degrees in our lives. How it affects our riding depends on many things of course.

At this point, I a trying to see if there is a niche out there for this. I am not thinking the top level competitor necessarily, nor am I looking to reinvent the wheel. Just seeking input and wondering where and if I can add value.

[Scribbler]

This is a very interesting question.

I’ve been involved for a couple of years with the early stages of an equestrian community project nonprofit, and thought about what equine assisted therapy offers.

My understanding is that the therapy part of it, for non-horsey people, comes from the exposure to something new that defamiliarizes your response and makes you aware of your emotional reactions.

I think that equine assisted therapy wouldn’t have the desired effect on horse people, because we are already far too familiar with horses. I think that if I wanted something that took me out of my comfort zone, I would need to do something completely new. Like rock climbing or bungee jumping. Things I will never do because they would reduce me to a quivering mess :).

For me, being a client in equine assisted therapy would be like the average cat owner going to cat therapy.

Also, there is something in eq therapy that actually goes against my developing horsemanship.

When I am with my horse, I try to empty myself of my immediate demands, and see the horse, perfect my timing. I do a lot of trick training and groundwork as well as riding with her. My time with my horse is not about my emotional needs in the larger sense. It is about communicating across species.

And also I have learned skills in handling horses on the ground. The fact that I am fairly confident on the ground with horses doesn’t have much connection to how comfortable I am with people or in other situations. I’m OK with humans, but at this stage getting better with horses isn’t going to affect how I am with humans. And I’ve certainly seen good horsemen who are not particularly good with people or human interactions. So for anyone whose horse skills are ahead of their people skills, eq therapy would be pointless, because getting even better at handling a horse isn’t going to help them get better with people.

If I have a safety or training problem with my horse, I get training help.

On the other hand, it is true that many adult ammie riders have weird pockets of low self-esteem and defensiveness that seems to get in the way of them progressing with their riding. It would be nice if there was a way for them to break out of that once and for all. But I doubt it is limited to just their horse activities.

I also wonder if such riders are already so emotionally embroiled in their feelings about their horse, their riding, etc., that they would also be resistant to eq therapy, that they would always be thinking or saying “yes, but my horse. . .”

I wonder if such riders would be helped by doing something very different that had the disorientation effect that nonriders get from horses. Maybe they’d do very well being reduced to blubbering jelly on the bungee jump.

Or else they need to break out of whatever riding straightjacket they are in, and learn concrete skills outside their current skillset, like a dressage rider learning western groundwork or trick training.

BTW, I also resist “therapeutic” modes of other activities that I already have a fairly high level of skills in, such as writing and drawing. I am not going to “draw my feelings” in stick figures. I want to draw a horse that looks like a horse!