By Mary Lynn Szymandera, LCDC, CEFIP

Several weeks ago, I worked with a young man, a horse trainer of significant skill and reputation, who was curious about “equine therapy” and wanted to experience it for himself. While he was standing next to Maggie, an eight year old, high-strung, thoroughbred mare, I asked the young cowboy what he was feeling. The mare had not “connected” to him yet and this informed me the young man was suppressing something, even though I didn’t have a clue as to what it might be. Tom said he didn’t think he was feeling anything and I began fishing for what might be below the surface. Tom denied he was feeling any anger and stated when he does get angry, he tries to resolve the issues that caused it and as soon as he can, he lets it go, frequently with prayer. Tom had been struggling for several moments, searching for what he was feeling when he happened to mention Thanksgiving “being a wreck” again this year. He stated “That’s just the way my family is and I have gotten used to it”. He said he didn’t think he harbored any resentment or anger about the family dysfunction. His statement prompted me to ask him if he had ever grieved the loss of the family he would have liked to have had, and as tears welled up in his eyes, Tom said, “You know, I’ve never thought of that before, but it feels like I have some grieving to do.” As the tears came, the mare’s head came down, she nuzzled his face and placed her head behind his shoulder as if to give him a hug or “have his back”. Tom was amazed at the horse’s capacity for empathy and caring. He had told me he had gotten a lot from working with horses in his life but never realized they had the capacity to give to him emotionally or truly care about a human enough to nurture or provide security.

I can’t say for sure what transpired between Tom and Maggie. I can only say I have witnessed this deep opening, connecting and healing hundreds of times over the years I have been doing “bonding” between horses and clients. There is a medical study called Heart Math that measures and maps the electromagnetic energy the human heart emanates. This pulsing energy creates a “bubble” of energy that surrounds the body. It is theorized horses experience people’s energy fields and are drawn into the steady flow of personal energy when the person is congruent, meaning connected to him or herself. The theory continues when a person is suppressing feelings and emotions or fragmented from themselves for one reason or another, this flow of energy is shut down or diminished and therefore not strong enough to “pull” the horse into it. There is another theory formulated by Drs. Lewis, Amini and Lannon in their book, “A General Theory of Love” that states Limbic Resonance is what connects humans to one another. Perhaps it is the Limbic Resonance the horse is participating in. Perhaps it’s all the same thing, or maybe none of it is true and the real reason equine therapy works is yet undiscovered. To me, it just doesn’t matter. I have witnessed enough to know something is happening that changes people when they work with or around horses.

At the Arbor Equine Therapy program, we begin each client’s equine experience with a “bonding” session, similar to what I described above with the cowboy. These sessions are useful in identifying hidden attitudes, beliefs or feelings, preventing the client from being authentic and/or empowered in their lives. These become treatment issues and when left unaddressed can and most likely will become relapse triggers down the road. We also do the same exercise in the Arbor Family Program. Family members of addicts are generally so focused on the addicted person they seldom recognize the need to look at how they have been contaminated by the disease of addiction. As the family member stands next to the horse they have chosen to work with, they are immediately confronted with their own truth – they are either connected and congruent or not. If they are not, then the questions begin which enable them to get below the surface and discover the feelings and emotions that help them to see the communication they need to have with their loved one. One woman opened up to the depth of pain she had suppressed regarding her own early life trauma she had never been able to share with her husband. With the horse’s connection, she discovered it was alright for her to feel the pain and own it, and more importantly, that she was capable of doing so. When she spoke about her own issues with her husband later in the sharing portion of the program, her husband was frightened at first, but soon recognized his wife’s pain was not about him, as he had always thought. He was able to reach out to her with love and compassion rather than fear and defensiveness. A wonderful family healing occurred in the process.

Horses are magnificent animals. They have throughout ancient mythology and recent history represented the spiritual journey of man to God. Their grace and beauty, strength and gentleness have captured the artistic imagination of mankind from the Paleolithic cave painters of a dun horse at Lascaux in Southern France to the magnificent sculpted horse created by Leonardo da Vinci. Yet, there are those who still see the horse as just a tool…a piece of livestock. The horse does not seem to mind. He gives us the unconditional positive regard of his own authentic self and seems to accept us as we are. He responds to us authentically and does not lie, as he has no guile. When we stand next to a horse, our heart rate slows and our blood pressure lowers. Limbic resonance? Perhaps. A mirror of our inner most feelings? Maybe. But my favorite way to think about horses is in this description, found on an old print of galloping horses in an antique store, written by Ronald Duncan, an English playwright.

The Horse
Here is nobility without conceit.
Friendship without envy. Beauty without vanity.
A willing servant, yet no slave.

And the young cowboy horse trainer I was telling you about? This young man goes around the country doing spiritual outreach with troubled teens working in a round pen with unbroken horses. In his work, he uses building a relationship with a horse as a metaphor for building a relationship with God. First, he demonstrates getting the horse’s attention, then building trust, and lastly, showing the horse how he will protect and care. What a powerful demonstration of a spiritual connection with a “Power Greater than Ourselves”. Perhaps, just perhaps, that is what the horse is really here to teach us.