Equine-Assisted Learning is an experiential learning approach that promotes the development of life skills for educational, professional and personal goals through equine-assisted activities.

HOW IT WORKS

In an EAL setting, the experiential approach integrates equine-human interaction that is guided by a planned learning experience to meet the identified goals or desires of the participant(s). Working with equines (horses) provides opportunities to teach critical life skills such as trust, respect, honesty and communication. Equines use mostly non-vocal communication and are in-tune with human behavior. This can help participants to better understand and learn how our non-verbal communication might be impacting or influencing others in their lives. Equines ask people to be aware of their surroundings at all times. Through interactions with the equines, participants learn a heightened self-awareness. Self-awareness is important in order to reveal patterns of behavior and gives participants the opportunity to think in a new way. Furthermore, participants gain self-esteem and self-confidence while learning how to work with such a large and powerful creature. In all, equines provide us with a way to see our internal landscape and modes of operation exposed. They offer us the opportunity to experience humility, compassion and challenge - all critical elements to supporting self-growth and self-awareness.

In EAL there are three main areas of concentration, education, corporate/professional development and coaching/personal development.

BENEFITS OF EQUINE-ASSISTED LEARNING

For Education:

• A focus on academic skills

• Character development\Problem solving

• Critical thinking

For Personal Growth:

• Problem solving\Decision making

• Critical thinking

• Creativity

• Communication

• Confidence

For Corporations:

• Team-building

• Leadership development 

• Enhanced work dynamics