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This book examines the impact of equine-assisted therapy and learning on at-risk young people, detailing a therapeutic horsemanship program in the UK. It highlights the experiences of seven participants, focusing on themes of attachment, trust, and resilience, while drawing on various theoretical frameworks. The work aims to contribute to the understanding and validation of equine-assisted interventions in mental health and education.
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100% found this document useful (9 votes)
419 views14 pages

Equine Assisted Therapy and Learning With at Risk Young People Secure Ebook Download

This book examines the impact of equine-assisted therapy and learning on at-risk young people, detailing a therapeutic horsemanship program in the UK. It highlights the experiences of seven participants, focusing on themes of attachment, trust, and resilience, while drawing on various theoretical frameworks. The work aims to contribute to the understanding and validation of equine-assisted interventions in mental health and education.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Equine Assisted Therapy and Learning with At Risk Young

People

Visit the link below to download the full version of this book:

https://medipdf.com/product/equine-assisted-therapy-and-learning-with-at-risk-yo
ung-people/

Click Download Now


Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Foreword viii

Preface x

Acknowledgements xi

List of Abbreviations xiii

Introduction 1

1 Background to Equine-Assisted Therapy and Learning 6

2 Young People Considered ‘At Risk’, and Overview of ‘The


Yard’ and Methods Used 35

3 Development of Self-Confidence and Self-Efficacy, and


the Opening Up of ‘Positive Experiences’ and ‘Positive
Opportunities’ through Therapeutic Horsemanship 83

4 Developing Attachments, Empathy and Trust through


Relationships with Horses 105

5 The Horse, the Therapeutic Relationship and Other


Psychotherapeutic Insights 125

6 Horses, Mindfulness and the Natural Environment 154

7 Conclusion 190

Appendix A: Research Project into Equine-Assisted


Therapy/Learning and Therapeutic Horsemanship 207

Appendix B: Consent Form – Young People 209

Appendix C: Research Project into Equine-Assisted


Therapy/Learning and Therapeutic Horsemanship 211

Appendix D: Consent Form – Adults 212

Appendix E: XXXX Ltd Therapeutic Horsemanship Programme 213

v
vi Contents

Appendix F: XXXX Ltd Therapeutic Horsemanship Programme 215

Appendix G: Questionnaire about XXX Therapeutic Horsemanship


(children and young people) 216

Appendix H: XXX Therapeutic Horsemanship Programme 217

Appendix I: PhD Questions for Young People 218

Appendix J: Tables of Participants 220

Glossary 222

Bibliography 223

Index 247
Illustrations

All photographs are by Shaun Dérioz and posed by models.

1 Making friends: having a scratch


2 Horse care: plaiting a mane
3 Horse care: picking out hooves
4 Horse care: grooming
5 Shetlands like hugs too
6 Group ‘invisible leading’ session
7 Exercises in the round pen: walking in rhythm
8 Exercises in the round pen: follow the leader
9 Exercises in the round pen: join-up
10 Horse agility: negotiating obstacles
11 Horse agility: building trust and confidence
12 Horse agility: crossing bridges
13 Horse agility: investigating the box
14 Horse agility: testing the box
15 Horse agility: success!
16 Exercises on horseback: stretching and balance
17 Exercises on horseback: balance and confidence
18 Equine-assisted education session
19 Equine-assisted education session: Jasper the horse
helping with worksheet
20 Taking some time out together
21 Good friends
22 Getting to know each other: hand grooming

vii
Foreword

At 37 years old it’s amazing to be able to say that I remember the birth of
a field, but I can and I do. I was in undergraduate college at the time, a
horsewoman studying environmental journalism, and never knew that
what I was about to witness would change my life forever.
In the 1990s a series of events transpired in the USA that would shift
the paradigm of the horse–human relationship. Starting with Barbara
Rector’s creation of an equine-facilitated psychotherapy programme at
Sierra Tucson in Tucson, Arizona, and continuing to include the subse-
quent development of national and international membership organisa-
tions, colleges and universities providing degrees and coursework, and
thousands of professionals offering services, the movement to include
equines as a part of a treatment or learning team was officially born.
I watched as the field exploded, crossing coast to coast and continent
to continent. Around the globe, people began viewing horses and the
horse–human relationship differently. For many, this orientation comes
without the need for explanation or validation. It comes from a heart-
felt sense of connection and belief. For others, research and rigorous
academic study hold the key to the field’s long-term success.
My role within this field has been not only to provide services, delving
deeply into the felt experience of the work, but probably more impor-
tantly to act as an observer and scribe, documenting the development
of the profession.
It is because of this that I first came to encounter Dr Hannah Louise
Burgon. I was writing my first book when I came across her research. In
2003, Anthorozoos published the results of a study that she conducted
while at the University of Exeter in the UK, entitled ‘Case Studies of
Adults Receiving Horse-Riding Therapy’. The purpose of this study was
to examine the psychotherapeutic results of therapeutic riding. By the
time the article was published, a number of studies had already been
conducted which investigated the physiological effects of horse-riding,
but little had been done to understand the possible psychological bene-
fits. Dr Burgon’s work was cutting edge and her contribution helped to
move the field forward significantly.
In reading the results of her first study, I noticed immediately that
Dr Burgon was not afraid to ask tough questions. Her enquiry into the

viii
Foreword ix

after-effects of the treatment method was a topic that many had veered
away from in both practitioner conversation and prior studies. She
demonstrated that although passionate and invested, she was not going
to allow her own opinions and desires to cloud her professionalism and
dedication to ‘real’ science.
This characteristic is now seen in her first book, Equine-Assisted Ther-
apy and Learning with At-Risk Young People. In this book, Dr Burgon has
interwoven exhaustive and scholarly research with personal experience
and powerful vignettes. In this way she has been able to speak as both a
researcher and a provider, giving us a unique perspective on the ‘how’ of
the work. Equine-Assisted Therapy and Learning with At-Risk Young People
also includes both historic and current considerations, emerging trends
and theories, and it builds a strong foundation from which to present
the research results. Dr Burgon’s work introduces an international per-
spective, and continues to build the conceptual framework from which
further studies can be developed.
This book marks a significant contribution to our body of knowl-
edge. Dr Burgon has effectively engaged our hearts and our minds,
validating our personal experiences while providing us with language to
explain our feelings. I am in awe of how far our field has come and am
honoured to share it with such knowledgeable, thoughtful and skilled
professionals as Dr Burgon.

Leif Hallberg, MA, LCP


Author/Psychotherapist/Consultant
Portland, Oregon, USA
Preface

This book explores the experiences of seven ‘at-risk’ young people who
participated in a unique therapeutic horsemanship programme based in
the UK where the research study took place. Therapeutic horsemanship
is aligned to the developing fields of equine-assisted psychotherapy and
equine-assisted learning, where horses are utilised alongside experienced
practitioners for social, emotional and learning benefits.
The young people who attended this programme were referred from
various organisations, including a foster care agency, youth offending
team and a pupil referral unit, and were considered to be ‘at risk’ due to
their various psychosocial disadvantages. In addition to the young peo-
ple, the views of some of the adults involved with them were included.
These were therapists on the therapeutic horsemanship programme,
foster carers, a teacher and a youth offending team mentor.
A number of prominent themes were uncovered from the research
study. These were loosely based around issues of nurture, attachment
and trust; social well-being and resilience; identification with the horse;
a ‘safe’ space and calming influence; the role of the horse in the
therapeutic arena; and the natural environment and spiritual dimen-
sions. Relevant theoretical frameworks adopted were from the risk and
resilience literature; attachment theory; psychotherapeutic literature;
mindfulness; and the nature/outdoor and ecotherapy fields.

x
Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I wish to express my deep appreciation to the young


people who so generously and graciously participated in the research
study on which this book is based. The openness that they displayed
in sharing their experiences and thoughts with me was something that
I feel privileged to have been part of. I am also hugely grateful to the
adults who gave up their time to be interviewed and provided me with
so much additional food for thought.
So many others helped to make this project possible. Without my
husband Shaun’s unwavering support, it would never have happened:
thank you a million times for everything, and also for the amazing pho-
tographs you take. I am grateful to all of my family for their belief in
me and for being there. Thanks to Di Gammage for our many conver-
sations about young people and horses and much more besides. I am
forever indebted to Lucy Rees who started all of this by sitting me on a
half-wild Welsh mountain pony aged seven or eight, and encouraging
and supporting me with horses and numerous other things ever since.
I hope that I can share with many other young people just some of the
experiences that Lucy shared with me.
I would like to acknowledge some of the pioneers in this exciting
new field of equine-assisted therapy and learning: Barbara Rector, whose
training clinic in the UK I had the good fortune to attend during my
early foraging in this world; and also Linda Kohanov and Adele and
Marlena McCormick, whose books were the first that I read and that
inspired me to want to find out more. It was then exciting to dis-
cover that Leif Hallberg, who has generously provided a foreword to
this book, had also written in her important book, Walking the Way of
the Horse, about themes and concepts similar to those that I uncovered.
This hopefully helps to provide further credibility and credence to the
field of equine-assisted therapy and learning – the fact that researchers
and practitioners from across the world are discovering and document-
ing the same themes and benefits that people can gain from contact
with horses.
I dedicate this book to my father, who so sadly died before I completed
it. His unwavering determination and dedication to follow his inner

xi
xii Acknowledgements

passion and calling to music despite the challenges that he encountered


provided a role model that I did not always appreciate.
Lastly, but in no way least, I thank the horses, especially my beau-
tiful Donzela (the fairy horse according to many of the young people
fortunate to have known her), who continue to teach me every day.
Abbreviations

AAT animal-assisted therapy


ADD attention deficit disorder
ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
CBEIP Certification Board for Equine Interaction
Professional
CBT cognitive-behavioural therapy
DLA disability living allowance
EAA equine-assisted activities
EAC equine-assisted counselling
EAGALA Equine-Assisted Growth and Learning
Association
EAI equine-assisted interventions
EAL equine-assisted learning
EAT/L equine-assisted therapy and learning
EAP equine-assisted psychotherapy
EAT equine-assisted therapy
EFEL equine-facilitated experiential learning
EFL equine-facilitated learning
EFMHA Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association
EFP equine-facilitated psychotherapy
EGEA Equine Guided Education Association
EI temperament-based index of emotionality
GAF Children’s Global Assessment of Functioning
Scale
LA local authority
MBCT mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
MBSR mindfulness-based stress reduction
NGC Natural Growth Centre
PAT Pets as Therapy
PATH Intl. Professional Association of Therapeutic
Horsemanship International
PRU pupil referral unit
RDA Riding for the Disabled
RSW registered social worker

xiii
xiv List of Abbreviations

SCAS Society for Companion Animal Studies


SEN special educational needs
SW social worker
TH therapeutic horsemanship
WMP Wild Mustang Program
YOT Youth Offending Team
Introduction

During the last decade a novel way of working with people experiencing
a range of emotional and social difficulties has started to gain
recognition in the UK by the mental health and allied helping pro-
fessions. This exciting new field utilises horses alongside trained pro-
fessionals and is known variously as equine-assisted psychotherapy
(EAP), equine-assisted therapy (EAT), equine-assisted learning (EAL),
equine-assisted activities (EAA), equine-assisted counselling (EAC) and
equine-facilitated mental health (EFMH), amongst others. There are
also variations on these terms, utilising the word ‘facilitated’ instead
of ‘assisted’ to different effect (Halberg, 2008). Whilst conversely Rid-
ing for the Disabled (RDA), where people with physical disabilities ride
horses, was started in the UK, the field of EAT and EAL has a much longer
established base in the USA where Rupert Isaacson’s bestselling book
The Horse Boy, about the experiences of his autistic son being helped by
horses, has recently helped to give the field international publicity.
This book is about the experiences of seven young people who partici-
pated in a therapeutic horsemanship (TH) programme that I established
whilst working as a social worker for a foster care agency in the south
of England. It is part of a long journey that evolved from horses being a
childhood passion and led to working with horses together with young
people with various disadvantages and difficulties in a therapeutic and
educational capacity. The research study outlined in this book followed
as an attempt to articulate and share some of the experiences of ‘The
Yard’, the TH programme on which this book is based.
Through a personal belief and understanding that contact with horses
could be therapeutic in many ways, I found myself in the fortunate posi-
tion to be able to incorporate TH in my work as a social worker for a
foster care company. Whilst initially this was limited to young people
who were in foster placements with this particular company, the TH
programme expanded through interest from outside agencies to include

1
2 Equine-Assisted Therapy and Learning with At-Risk Young People

young people referred from youth offending and other organisations.


The young people who attended the TH programme, named ‘The Yard’
for the purpose of this book, were generally considered to be ‘at risk’
within the social work and allied professions due to their circumstances
and histories. Substantial research within the literature concerned with
risk and resilience claims that there is a high likelihood of negative
life outcomes as a result of experiencing adverse childhood experiences
(Masten, Best & Garmezy, 1990; Rutter, 1985).

Definition of terms

Therapeutic horsemanship (TH) is one of the many different approaches


within the fields of equine-assisted learning (EAL), equine-assisted ther-
apy (EAT) and equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP). For the sake of
this book I employ the abbreviations EAL and EAT, which I have
amalgamated into EAT/L, as they provide a broad description of the
interventions and are the most commonly employed in the UK at the
time of writing. The fields of EAT/L and TH have evolved alongside
animal-assisted therapy (AAT) as additional therapeutic interventions
with both young people and adults benefiting from therapeutic and/or
learning support. They work from the premise that contact with ani-
mals is therapeutic and healing in a variety of different ways and can be
useful for people who may find traditional therapeutic or educational
interventions challenging or difficult in some way.
In a similar way to any emerging field, there are diverse differences
in the use of terminology and little standardisation of practice. A num-
ber of organisations are attempting to provide frameworks and training
to address some of these issues and create professionalism in the field.
So far the most prominent have been established in the USA. These are
the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International
(PATH Intl.) and the Equine-Assisted Growth and Learning Association
(EAGALA), which has a European arm. Compared to a few years ago,
an internet search will now provide a huge array of other organisa-
tions offering training in the respective fields – far too many to list
here. They include the Certification Board for Equine Interaction Pro-
fessional (CBEIP), the Equine Guided Education Association (EGEA),
which offers training predominantly in equine-guided leadership and
an annual conference, and Epona, the author Linda Kohanov’s organ-
isation, which has a number of trained practitioners now based in the
UK. The Federation of Horses in Education and Therapy International (HETI)
is a membership organisation and publishes an annual journal. Whilst
Introduction 3

there remain various differences between the organisations in terms of


ideas about best practice, a general agreement appears to be that in
order to employ the terminology equine-assisted or equine-facilitated
psychotherapy (EAP/EFP), one member of the team is required to be
a trained and registered mental health professional, such as a psy-
chotherapist, psychologist or counsellor. Another general, although not
universal, agreement is that two practitioners are required to facilitate an
EAT/L or TH session in order to provide a safe environment for clients
and horses. The Yard followed this guideline and, in addition to this,
followed the principle that both practitioners needed to have adequate
equine experience, and particular knowledge of the horses employed
in the practice. Most EAP and many EAT/L practices do not offer riding.
The emphasis instead is on encouraging participants to uncover insights
and self-awareness through ground-based exercises and experiences with
horses, together with the therapist providing intervention along their
own particular style of practice. Often EAP and EAT/L are time-limited.
In contrast, TH is often a more encompassing intervention which can
include horse riding together with all aspects of horse care and manage-
ment; it is understood to be therapeutic as opposed to being a therapy
as such. Additionally, as The Yard employed a qualified play and drama
psychotherapist, together with a counsellor, EAP/C was also provided.

Application of the book

This book explores why horses seem to appeal to and motivate young
people who have suffered exclusion and disadvantage and who may
have previously found it difficult to engage with services. It seeks to
examine some of the factors about the horse that lends it to providing
a unique therapeutic medium, its cultural role in history and links to
biophilia – the study of the longstanding, historical and, it is claimed,
innate relationship between people, nature and animals (Wilson, 1984).
Due to the small sample size the findings in this book are not presented
as having universal application. Instead I am interested in giving the
reader a real sense of the experiences and views of a particular group
of young people and associated adults who were involved in a unique
TH programme in a particular location at a particular moment in time.
However, located alongside other allied research in the field of EAT/L,
themes arose that have many similarities and parallels and so it is hoped
that this book can contribute in a small way to the growing evidence
base behind this important new way of working with people and horses
to improve lives.

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