EAL differs from EAT by emphasizing educational and personal development objectives rather than mental health challenges, using horses to facilitate interactive exercises designed around specific goals-driven exercises.
Ruttencutter and Warner have provided students with weekly classes that combine classroom-based lessons on campus with barn days where participants participate in non-riding equine-assisted learning activities. Student surveys indicate that this course has proven helpful for exploring their personal well-being and professional growth.
Psychotherapy
Animal-Assisted Therapy (EAT) is an animal-assisted therapy program involving grooming, feeding and caring for a horse (Sharon Citation2020). EAT uses horse interaction as a metaphor for real life issues – for instance a student having trouble transitioning to her new state used the horse as an outlet to process her emotions.
Horses and humans have co-evolved over the course of over 5000 years, leading to an extraordinary relationship. Horses as prey animals are especially responsive to human cues and emotional states; this ability makes Equine Assisted Learning effective therapeutic relationships.
Studies have demonstrated the efficacy of animal-assisted interventions, like EAT, in improving treatment compliance and outcomes among trauma survivors [113]. These benefits may be attributable to animals’ ability to create strong bonds between participants and animals while providing nonjudgmental feedback on performance issues and increasing intrinsic motivation.
Education
EAL offers an educational component centered around a 13-week guided learning course featuring lectures and horse activities. Participants have the choice between online courses or attending live workshops held either at Kindle Hill Foundation facilities in Vermont or other venues nationwide.
The curriculum at Equine Therapy Institute is built around the principles of equine therapy and includes horsemanship, equine science and social skills training with highly intuitive horses for activities on land. Facilitation by licensed therapists or Equine Specialists.
Teachers reported that the equine program shed light on various aspects of student lives and behaviour, such as their relationships to school, family, peers and the wider community. Teachers described this experience with horses as helping shed light on various relationships such as school attendance, familial responsibilities, peer group relationships and identity transformation (Citation2018). Teachers noted how exposure to horses served as a trigger point that helped shift these relationships and identities of their pupils (Citation2018).
Community Development
Horses have long played an invaluable role in communities as teachers and healers. Due to their prey animal nature and ability to detect human emotions, horses make effective partners when it comes to teaching and learning – especially personal development.
VSU’s Equine Assisted Learning program gives students a unique learning opportunity: working with horses. Students work to build connections with horses, understand equine nonverbal communication, practice empathy and self-reflection and focus on mindfulness while remaining present.
Participants also participate in other activities, including goal-setting and team building exercises, to create an experience that promotes health and wellbeing for each participant.
Social Work
People and horses have always shared an inextricable bond. From spiritual practice to improving physical wellbeing, people have turned to these magnificent animals for centuries as teachers and healers – providing participants a nonjudgmental space where emotions can be explored freely in order to grow emotionally, mentally, and socially.
Researchers from Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine conducted a recent study which demonstrated how their Equine Assisted Learning course helped first-year veterinary medical students develop emotional self-regulation and interpersonal skills through working with teaching horses at Cummings. Students used this class to address common stressors that first-year students face like anxiety and stress.
The current study utilized a mixed-method approach to evaluate student outcomes, collecting the majority of data through participant self-reflection. While open to outcome designs present unique challenges when measuring program effectiveness due to unpredictable results in any given session, such methods could prove more suitable when looking at changes in variables such as learning assemblages.
