This past weekend was a revelation. Spirit Farm Gypsy Cobs Inc. had the great privilege of hosting and attending Eponaquest© certified instructor, Roxy Wright’s, two day workshop; The Doorway to Intuition and Connection and Expanding Intuition with the Guidance of the Horse.
In my ‘day job’ I work as a Psychiatrist. I have had years of experience treating people, of all ages, with psychiatric illness – in its myriad of forms. Currently my work has a particular emphasis on seniors and their unique mental health challenges. This is a very rewarding but demanding job and as well as this my husband Frank and I decided to embark upon our dream of owning and breeding Gypsy Cobs.
In addition, and despite the chaos caused by COVID 19 on our day to day lives, we began exploring the world of equine facilitated wellness (EFW) and animal assisted therapy (AAT). These therapies really resonated with us and we recognized that this was something we would love to explore and share with others. And so our journey began. This year we have continued training to certify as mental health practitioners with Pro-EFW, the Professional Association of Equine Facilitated Wellness. Next year we will continue with the certification process, start to gather practicum hours and begin to implement our learnings with clients and patients in a group therapy and individual therapy context.
There have been a number of learning opportunities this year and the right possibilities presented themselves at the right times. This particular workshop is the first of the prerequisite workshops to attend the Apprenticeship with Linda Kohanov, the founder and director of Eponaquest© LLC, in Arizona. The workshop focused on teaching principles of the Eponaquest© style of equine assisted psychotherapy (EAP).
The Eponaquest© style methods are rooted in body awareness learning from and embodying abilities that have naturally helped horses to survive in a herd. This allows us to access the emotions and messages we give ourselves beneath our conscious thinking. When a person can connect and converse with horses from a place of openness and vulnerability it allows them to enter healing spaces that may never be accessed in traditional talk therapies. Although this can feel sacred to some clients, and is even described by them as such, there is no religion associated with these therapy methods. Some mistake the focus on intuition within these methods as being related to particular spiritual practices that are unfamiliar or incompatible with their beliefs. In fact, the essence of intuition is a deep knowing beyond words or even something that cannot be expressed verbally. This level of knowing is described as a “sixth sense” that humans are thought to have disconnected from over time, largely due to the fact that we spend most of the time “living in our head” and hardly notice our five senses throughout the day. While some may not believe in intuition, many equestrians would concede that, when we are able to acknowledge how we feel in our bodies then we are able to start partnering and communicating more effectively with horses – regardless of what term is used to describe the process. Being prey animals with finely evolved systems of sensory processing is how horses communicate with each other and also with us if we are willing to pay attention.
Linda Kohanov of Eponaquest© first developed and promoted these methods using her knowledge and experience from a lifetime with horses and from a wide range of therapies with horses and clients. There are currently greater than 150 certified Eponaquest© instructors worldwide and this number is growing rapidly as the success and recognition of equine therapy continues to grow. Therapies such as these have never been as important as now as we often suffer from a lack of connection, with others and ourselves, in our fast paced, demanding world.
Contemplative inner work in the presence of horses brings us into direct contact with sentient beings that have a capacity to mirror aspects of our emotional lives that we are not in touch with. When we know what we are feeling on a deeper level, we have a choice to move forward, with intention and select how to respond to those feelings. There have been a number of research studies suggesting that equine assisted learning (EAL) and equine assisted therapy (EAT) can benefit populations with various mental health diagnoses.
So, here is a brief snapshot of my personal experience from this past weekend… both from a verbal and nonverbal perspective. We learned a number of Eponaquest© themes from Roxy; what intuition means and how to recognize it, how we define passion and inspiration and how we can create more of that in our everyday lives as well as how to incorporate this into our interactions with horses. We learned how to observe and respond to the most subtle body language of our equine partners and how horses have the innate capacity to notice and hold emotions and then process and release them – something that we humans can definitely learn from! Perhaps we would sleep better at night and ruminate less if we did. We also learned the role of body language and intention and how our messages can convey the opposite of what we intend at times, if we don’t act with mindfulness. The horses and humans in our life can be confused and frustrated when such incongruencies arise.
During the round pen exercises we practiced what we had learned using subtle body language and movement to invite the horse into our space or, conversely, created definite boundaries not to be crossed. We observed and practiced the power of setting intention when moving ourselves or the horses, we learned how to be aware of our breathing and emotions and to express what was experienced in the round pen either through words or journaling. This was a reflective process and for some it was life changing.
A valuable part of learning to be an effective therapist is seeing things from the patient’s perspective, even when we cannot see ourselves acting in the same way. Several schools of therapy describe the metaphor of the Wounded Healer, or one who guides others on their journey of emotional healing while experiencing and growing from their own emotional wounds and adversities. Lived experience, or walking the walk, not just talking the talk, is expected in several types of mind-body focused therapy where we rely on staying authentic and open so that we can model this for our clients. Learning how to heal with horses is to permit this healing in ourselves, as we are facilitated through equine facilitated learning (or equine assisted learning) and equine facilitated mental health sessions.
The most valuable lesson for me from my equine facilitated learning experience has been to live the work, develop deep insight and experience emotional resonance by being in the round pen with the horse as a therapist. It is a different way of being with animals yet feels like the most natural thing in the world. It sometimes feels surreal when you spend time with one of your own horses in this way and you see them in a whole new light.
With the support of a facilitator, finding a connection with the horse from the inside out has truly shown me the power of this work. The grace to be and the space to become, has been a beacon of therapeutic guidance offered up by Sue McIntosh, the director of the Healing Hooves program in Cremona. I learned this concept when I attended the Exploration and Focus trainings of the pathway to certification in equine facilitated wellness (EFW). It describes how horses, and hopefully therapists, can create an atmosphere of acceptance and extend an invitation for people to be their true selves. This has started to finally settle in and resonate with me by attending personal development workshops with equines, the first being a Horse Medicine workshop with Meghan Vornholt in Cochrane and then the recent two weekend workshops with Roxy at Spirit Farm Gypsy Cobs Inc.
Leading into this weekend’s workshop, after my recent Healing Hooves training and a Horse Medicine workshop at Meghan Vornholt’s, I felt raw and vulnerable. During the training and the personal development workshop, I had already started to explore some of the ways I tend to relate to horses and others under mental or physical strain. To be honest, this way of noticing ourselves can be exhausting. There were particular circumstances in the farm’s daily operations (which I believe arose as part of the Universe’s way of arranging things) that I can handle when they are meant to occur. With these factors in the background when entering the round pen with my horse Anise, I received a firsthand reminder of the importance of staying assertive and holding ground with those I care about, rather than letting them impose on my space and my values. This was exactly what I needed to learn this weekend! And it wasn’t constructed or fabricated in any way. It just came up for me in the round pen. That’s one of the startling things about this kind of work from my observations so far.
In any therapy session, the therapist having a general plan for the session flow can be helpful. Depending on where the individual is at that day, there is clinical flexibility that helps to shift the focus of a session. In equine facilitated work, whether I am a participant or facilitator, I am collaborating with an equine partner or therapist. And my equine partner or co-therapist will have a lot to say regarding what we should explore in that particular moment with that particular person! I learned during my session how my level of assertiveness influenced how much energy went into the messages I sent Anise. When I felt more nurturing and less dominant, the energy behind my messages was muted or turned down low. When I practiced turning up the energy dial in terms of how much energy went into my body cues, without fear or overthinking, the connection with my horse strengthened and there was a direct impact on the action in the arena. My assumption, which I wasn’t aware of before this session, was that turning up the energy dial would weaken my relationship. In fact, it was the opposite and Anise clearly connected with me even when I sent her a higher intensity, more dominant, message to move around the pen in a certain way. The same happened when I intentionally lowered the energy dial on my messages to her.
Even though this is an activity most equestrians engage in with their horses, this relatable activity helped uncover some important insights when it was used in a therapeutic context and framework. It is striking how such relatively simple exercises can be transformative. I have been in the round pen a hundred times with various horses from our herd but this experience was completely different. What made that difference? I think that it was the connection that formed between the participants during this workshop, our intention to stay open to what the horses had to teach us and the practicing of simple skills. That is the thing – the exercises we practiced with the horses of our herd were familiar and ordinary, and the conversations felt simple and true once they started to occur. The wisdom that arises in this kind of work often feels like things we knew all along but needed to remember. It feels like it existed inside us all this time and the horses helped us tune in. These revelations occur when we allow our horse partners to be themselves, to help us in the work and let the process unfold without forcing it to be what we think “should be”. When we allow ourselves the chance to be our true selves with horses extraordinary therapy happens. I can’t wait to share more of this journey with you, our readers, in the future!
by Shreyasi Brodhecker
To access more therapy information for Eponaquest © eponaquest.com
For more information on Roxy Wright’s programs visit heartshavenranch
