Jane Savoie Audiocast
1)
What is Equine Facilitated Learning and Coaching and how is it applied?
a. Part of a growing field where horses are being used in experiential learning
environments. In Equine Facilitated Learning and Coaching we integrate the natural
intuitiveness of horses, together with life coaching skills, to help people in a variety of
areas - leadership development, practicing assertiveness, personal empowerment,
relationships, as well as developing intuition and emotional health skills. Many people
know of Linda Kohanov who wrote the Tao of Equus and Riding between the Worlds.
She developed the EPONA technique which my work is based upon with an emphasis on
Life Coaching and the Mind Body Method technique developed by Kathy Pike (who
studied under Linda).
b. Essentially the work is done in an interactive, riding or non-riding learning format, where
clients are taught new tools to increase the awareness and synergy of our mind, body,
and emotions – essentially learning to integrate them as a collective sensory and
communication channel. And using that Mind/Body awareness I engage people with
horses in specific activities where together we can examine a horse’s behavior and a
client’s own reactions to that behavior, gaining new insights that help break through
unconscious thoughts and behaviors. It’s those revelations that often allow gates to
open for personal and professional growth, helping people gain clarity around their life
purpose and passion, their communication skills, and how their energy negatively or
positively affect their relationships.
c. Sometimes examples can pull all of what I just said together – For instance - I had a
client who wanted to improve her communication skills. She knew that she could be
very abrupt in some of her communications with people. When we explored the
emotions behind it, she recognized that it was to keep people at a distance since the
death of a close family member a number of years ago. As she acknowledged this the
horse, who had stayed about 8-10 feet away from my client nibbling on grass up until
then, came to my client and joined up with her. In exploring further this woman
discovered that certain sensations in areas of her body always seemed to tighten before
she got abrupt with someone. We talked about how to use this sensation as advance
warning to the communication style she was wishing to change and supported it with
authentic-self statements that she could practice through this change.
2) What are horses role in this work, for instance – what makes them so good at this?
a. Well you know, Psychologists have determined that only 10% of human communication
is actually verbal while the rest is non-verbal. That remaining 90% is often conveyed
through our behavior, emotions in some form or fashion, energetic exchanges, a glance,
our body posture, etc. Horses allow us to become more aware of that non-verbal
communication because as a prey animal almost all of their communication is non-
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verbal. Their survival is based on quietly and intuitively sensing what’s going on with
members of the herd or other beings in their environment and their overall intent.
When I explain how and why horses do this work so well there are 3 areas I like to break
it down into – their physical, spiritual and mental being……
From a physical standpoint, horses need to be in their body at all times. They don’t
reject what their bodies are telling them rather they listen to, respond, and react to
what it’s telling them. And in the work I do, this is one of the ways that we refer to in
being more horse-like – tuning into our body as a sixth sense - listening, reacting and
responding to what it’s telling us.
Another area is the brain. You know, as humans, over the centuries we have evolved
our brain in the front lobal area – the neo-cortex or thinking part of the brain meanwhile, the reptilian part of the brain at the base of our skull is shrinking and
therefore diminishing our instinctual abilities. It’s not being used much because in
general, society teaches to live in our head – schools, parenting, work environments all
contribute. Well, it turns out that the reverse is true in horses – the reptilian part of
their brain is much larger and more engaged than humans, therefore making them
much more instinctual than we are.
Another physical part of the horse that lends them to this work is the size of their heart
which turns out to be much larger than a human’s with an extensive energy field which
can extend 30 or more feel out, constantly monitoring the energy in their environment.
They also have their large guts. As horse people we all understand the size of their gut
and sensitivity to what they intake, but they also have tissue which is highly sensitive to
vibrational energy and therefore, they sense the energy that a human gives off of their
body. And it turns out that a human’s thoughts, beliefs, intent and perception give off a
vibrational energy that horses pick up on and respond to.
One of the more fascinating examples I’ve witnessed involved establishing boundaries –
the client was a successful woman running a business but also dealing with the demands
of school-age children, entertaining, etc. Carrot stick/ whip to use for boundaries.
Horse nipping, still no boundaries. Steps on other side of carrot stick.
An example of that is from a round pen session where before going in with the horse,
she talked about some pretty intense childhood experiences that she was willing to
address for the first time – she was tired of carrying them around like a trunk. As she
said these words, the horse blew out and immediately the 3 other horses which were 20
feet away did the same thing. You see, just talking about it and expressing the need to
address it changed her physiologically and the horses sensed that and responded.
From a mental and spiritual standpoint, horses are living in the moment – which is a nice
way to be but very difficult for us humans – but not impossible. Horses aren’t in their
heads thinking about the ugly look that the mare gave them last week nor do they stay
up all night worrying about the event they’re going to next week. They truly live in the
present moment and deal with what comes up as it comes up. It doesn’t mean that
they don’t carry around baggage or past trauma with them, but when they do they’re
dealing with it in the moment where something in their environment causes them to
respond to it.
j. The last thing I’ll mention is around the topic of emotions. Many people learn at an
early age to ignore or push aside our emotions because we or others place judgment on
things like sadness or depression, or fear. For instance, as a child did you ever hear just
‘suck it up and stop crying’, or a friend who’s trying to be helpful says ‘just forget about
it, you’ll feel better tomorrow’ or ‘let’s go have a drink so you can forget about it’. The
intent is well meaning but often it’s pushing aside instead of letting an emotion be
expressed and appreciated.
k. Horses don’t judge our emotions – they use it as information and respond to it. For
them it’s neither right nor wrong – simply information.
3) What do you bring to this work as a facilitator? Is it as a therapist, for instance?
a. My job is to hold space for my client and to be a coach who supports their goals and
objectives. I’m there to empower people to find their own answers, encouraging and
supporting them on their path as they make important life changes whether it’s
professional, personal, relationship-based or otherwise. I tune in to the nuances of my
client’s voice, their emotion and their energy around the topics they’re discussing. I use
the MBM that we spoke about earlier, whether it’s a coaching session over the phone or
in-person, to allow the wisdom of a client’s own body to help guide them in whatever
topic their wanting to explore.
b. I should mention that Coaching can happen with or without horses and often times in
combination. What is becoming recognized by many, including therapists, is that a horse
can help a client get at a deeper level and facilitate change much faster.
c. Is my work a replacement for therapy? No. I’m not certified or licensed to provide
therapy with humans, however I AM trained to create learning between humans and
horses for personal expansion and growth. Many times a horse brings to the surface
what is in the unconscious or is blind to the client. It can be a present day behavior or
past memory or event that needs integration. Often clients experience a release of
tension in the body and the emotional body which can be therapeutic even though it’s
not therapy.
d. My job is to also know when it would serve the client’s best interest to see a therapist
and have that discussion with them.
4) 4) What are some of the horse behaviors you observe when you're working with a client?
a. Horses really act as mirrors to the humans they interact with on a daily basis. If there is
someone who is sad and has low energy then there’s a chance that you’ll have a similar
response in a horse. If someone is high strung, with lots of pent up nervous energy then
you may see the same energy projected in a horse. These are not meant to be general
statements. Every horse is different and every person and the emotions they’re dealing
with are different which makes no two sessions the same. So, in my role my job is to
remain neutral, to observe the horse and the client and remain in curiosity.
b. What’s fascinating is that often we’ll see a horse touch a part of a person’s body that
ties into the Chakra where the client expresses work to be done. For instance, one
client wanted to work on re-igniting her creativity. She was overwhelmed working two
jobs and as a result felt as if she’d lost her energy and her creativity which she
considered a core strength of hers. When she went into the round pen, I noticed that
the horse bumped her gently in her lower abdomen and then a few minutes later put
his nose there. When we did the MBM, she said she felt constricted in her abdomen –
the area where the horse had been going to. And oh btw…this is in the area of the 2nd
chakra where our desires, passions and creativity lie. If emotions and feelings are not
experienced, energy is repressed and it’s difficult to live fully and authentically. A horse
senses those restrictions in our body. And, when we acknowledge them and our
authentic self, they respond.
c. So…very cool how this all connects together and how in-tune the horse is to us.
d. You know, when I was a teenager, I can remember a rather stern british riding instructor
who told me to leave my problems and moods at the barn door…well, in your head you
may be able to put it aside but the cells of your body are still holding on to whatever it is
and the emotions associated to that. And guess what - the horse picks up on it.
e. Let me just cut to the chase - Horses just want us to be real and eliminate our False Self
– that part of us that makes judgments, seeks outside approval, based on survival, fear
or vulnerability, or someone who runs critical mental tape loops about themselves.
Often when we can take that False Self, negative thinking, or ego out of our thought
process, and become our Authentic self, then the horse will respond in a very different
manner.
f. One of the workshops I’ve started offering, together with a person by the name of Lisa
Buell, is Painting with Horses, which combines this Equine Facilitation and Learning work
together with a creative painting process. It’s intended to open up creative blocks
whether you’re a creative person already or want to explore your creativity. One of the
idea’s behind it is to take away the judgment we have in our work and just let it come
from within, or our Soul – quite transformative. The presence of horses gives that added
energy and awareness as we shift that consciousness.
g. Whether words are spoken or not, once consciousness starts to shift, where you allow
yourself to be present and explore your authentic self you can see it almost immediately
in a horse’s response. They sense the energy in your body’s cell change and respond
accordingly thru joining up with a person, they could lick and chew, lay down, start
yawning, a number of things. Urinating in front of one woman – twice????
5) 5) How did you come into Equine Facilitated Learning and Coaching as a profession?
a. I have to say that horses led me to this. I had worked in the Corporate world for 30+
years and was in an Executive Marketing position – dealing with India at 7am and
Australia at 9pm with all the other geographies in between – pretty stressed out with
traveling and being in my head all the time - with planning and reporting results.
b. I had little time for my horses, and one that in particular needed my time and attention,
and yet when I did have time at the barn, I was distracted, had an agenda and my horses
responded to it. I would ride, regardless of the mood.
c. And yet, I started to see correlation between my energy and my horses response. I have
a Morgan mare – Autumn - that can be pretty hot when you get her outside of the ring.
At times she’d would buck – seemingly out of nowhere – you know one of those
explosive bucks followed by a crow kick – after analyzing it afterwards and where my
mind and emotions were, I realized I was still carrying some leftover anger from a
conversation earlier in the day – my horse sensed it and responded.
d. A Light Wave therapy session just drove home the point when I was in the most relaxed
state I can every remember being in and after 10 days went for the more relaxing and
enjoyable rides I’d ever had. When I truly felt at peace and connected with my horse.
e. So, here I am in my job feeling unfulfilled in many ways and becoming resentful. The
one thing that I did feel compassionate and satisfied with was my relationship with my
employees and the ability to nurture them and support them through some challenging
economic times – to listen to them, encourage them, work with them on managing their
emotions appropriately and motivating themselves.
f. Anyways, I knew that somehow I wanted to work with horses but not totally abandon
years of work experience I’d collected which led me to attend a weekend to explore
potential careers with horses at Kathy Pike’s Coaching with Horses, in Colorado.
g. During that weekend I became exposed to Equine Facilitated Learning and Coaching. As
part of it I had the opportunity to be a client in a round pen session with horses.
h. And now, I’m going to be very honest in what I share with you here -What came to my
awareness through that session with coaching and MBM was that I felt fearful and
vulnerable about making a career change. There was fear in the loss of my income and
potentially my life-style, as well as un-spoken expectations (or so I thought) from my
upbringing where I needed to have health and life insurance, save for retirement, have a
‘regular’ job and stability, and so forth. Nowhere in my family was there an
entreprenauer or someone working outside a Corporate job – essentially no risk takers.
Again, nobody ever said, “you can’t do that”, it was just a lot of my False Self voice and
need to maintain the status quo even though I wasn’t happy doing it. It was pressure
and expectations I put on myself. Perhaps some on the call today can identify with that.
i. Without that session, I don’t think I ever would have had the awareness that became
clear that day. The coaching and learning to pay attention to my body sensations
helped me tap into my true desire and what was possible. It gave me the tools to work
through the fear and vulnerability that came up for me.
j. BTW – a woman by the name of Brene’ Brown does a wonderful job on the subject of
vulnerability – TED talk, book. She says that vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation,
creation and change and being adaptable to change requires vulnerability.
k. Six months later I was in an Equine Facilitation and Learning apprentice program that
has changed my life and now allows me to empower people in different ways.
6) 6) How has it changed you and your relationship with your horses?
a. Ah…I’ve changed so much physically and mentally. Breathing for one – not shallow but
deep full breaths, being present – a big one for me, staying out of my head more –
there’s a time and place for it but trying not to allow it to dominate the instinctual part
of my brain. Listening to my body for clues as to what’s going on. Strengthening the
intuitive skills- we all have them but have learned to ignore them.
b. My horses have responded to the change. My Morgan, who I’ve found to be quite
sensitive, used to stand in her stall when I came up to her and then she’d bee-line for
the paddock door many times and I’d have to go get her. I now realize that she took a
few seconds to take inventory of the energy I was bringing into her space and when she
decided it wasn’t good, she took off.
c. While that reaction doesn’t happen much anymore, if it does, I’ll check in with myself
and in fact, I generally do this before a ride now. If I’m not feeling present and have all
kinds of thoughts running rampant in my head I stop and work on my breathing and
clearing my head. If my horse turns his nose to the corner of his stall when I open it, I’ll
stop and work on becoming grounded. I know when I’ve reached that present state by
the way my horse responds – turns, licks and chews, starts eating, yawns, etc.
d. So, what’s changed in my relationship with my horses is that it’s not always about
them, it’s about me. Sure there are factors in a horse’s background or in their
environment that can have an impact on their behavior, but if I take a good honest look
at myself and where I’m at, I can find that sometimes I’m accountable for where I’m at
when I’m with them and for changing that if I’m to have the partnership that I desire
with them.
e. I might just add too that each day I’m increasingly in awe of what horses have to offer
us. Each and every one has the capability to change our lives in the right environment
and with our being open to it.
7) 7) Who would benefit from this work?
a. As discussed earlier, this isn’t a replacement for therapy. It’s for people who would like
to evolve personally, who perhaps have a vision for the future and who are trying to
figure out how and why. It can be for riders who feel like there’s something holding
them back from their goals and objectives. Clients range from individuals wishing to
explore personal development to people in transition (divorce, careers, empty nest).
b. A special passion of mine is parents of at-risk children – an area where I have first-hand
experience in and understand the emotions (and sometimes trauma) involved with
those situations and some tough decisions that have to be made.
c. Also - professionals, businesses.
8) 8) What about people who have suffered from some sort of trauma? Can working with
horses help?
a. Yes, horses can help but there still remains a role for therapy depending on the type and
severity of trauma. The interesting thing about trauma is that it’s quite more extensive
in people than we might think and sometimes it comes up in our sessions since we’re
focusing on body sensations. Those sensations can serve as a guide to reflect where we
are experience trauma in an instinctual sort of way.
b. You know - Trauma is often thought of in the realm of a car accident, the death of
someone close to us, or Post traumatic stress disorder. It’s all those but it’s broader.
Could be a kid having their tonsils taken out – doctor in mask….. being witness to a car
accident….., seeing a beloved dog hit by a car –it’s our body reacting to a perceived or a
real threat.
c. There’s a book on trauma called, “Waking the Tiger” by Peter Levine. Its premise is that
if left unresolved then the memory of the trauma sticks with us and the energy
circulates in our body without a place to exit. Over time, the symptoms continue to
occur and may intensify or new symptoms may develop as the energy levels continue to
increase without the proper release.
d. Sometime situations arise that in some manner remind our subconscious of the original
trauma. When that happens then sometimes people will go into a disassociative state
or simply freeze as their body goes into protection mode . So, we watch for those
situations in our programs to understand what’s happening and coach a person through
it. When appropriate we refer an individual to a trained therapist.
9) 9) You also offer program for Corporations and businesses, correct? Tell me about the
benefits.
a. Yea, sure. As highly social creatures, horses and their role in the herd, can teach us a lot
about leadership and working cohesively together through the ebb and flow of daily life
– you know recognizing that non-verbal communication that we talked about earlier. So
for Businesses who invest in their employees leadership and teambuilding skills, bottom
line results can happen by things such as:
i. More effective communication in the organization
ii. Increased levels of awareness and trust amongst teams
iii. The ability of employees to resolve and gain agreement more quickly
iv. Improved employee engagement and creativity
v. Employees moving beyond conditioned behaviors by shifting mental patterns
and being more emotionally agile.
vi. More consistent and effective leadership styles
b. I’m pretty excited to be working with the Center for America’s First Horse, in Johnson,
VT to deliver many of the Leadership and Development workshops. It’s a non-profit
where they’re preserving the breed of the Spanish Colonial Horse and in fact, have the
largest herd on the East Coast. A good portion of each of our workshop proceeds will go
towards keeping this Center and breed going.
c. This breed is rare and just a wonderful, sensitive, adaptive, horse that is excellent in this
work. We’ll use them to do a variety of excercises that help build the Emotional
Intelligence (also know as EI or EQ) of leaders, as well as Teams - a term now coined
Group EQ.
d. In any relationship – work or personal - the more aware we are of our behavior and our
communication and the impact on others, the more harmoniously we can work or be
together. Teams become more trusting and more effective and therefore more
productive. Leaders and teams aren’t spinning wheels resolving conflict all day. Instead
there’s forward momentum and tangible results.
e. I used to be really proud of my team before I left the Corporate world. We had gone
through a number of downsizes and had to slash budgets and yet the revenue goals
kept climbing. Everyone was working the hardest despite a lot of obstacles. And yet,
despite what they had on their plate and the fact that physically they spanned the
globe, people would jump in to help one another when it was needed. They willingly
shared information and supported one another which ultimately allowed everyone to
be successful not just 1-2 individuals.
f. It’s interesting, but not surprising, that Deepak Chopra is now teaching CEO’s and
companies about the need for a different kind of leadership. And from my experiences
in Corporate, I would have to concur. His premise is that great leaders are an agent of
change who have clarity of vision and knows how to make that vision a reality…..that
this type of person comes from a level of core consciousness. His book, The Soul of
Leadership’ covers steps to becoming a good leader – lessons we’re learning through
being more horse-like – Observing without judgment – using your senses and your
heart, recognizing your emotions, greater awareness, empowerment, synchronicity, and
so forth. Interesting how it’s all coming together, isn’t it?
10) 10) Is there something you'd want people to know or do the next time they go to the barn?
a. Hmmm…great question! Maybe take the time and opportunity to engage with your
horse differently if some of the concepts I’ve covered today are new to you. For many
of you as dressage riders, you need to have that great partnership to be successful. But
perhaps there’s room for an even stronger partnership or an expanded relationship.
Practice being present by letting go of all the noise in your head. You can start with 4
easy steps to the present:
i. Where are you in your body?
ii. What sensations or feelings are there, i.e. tingling, constriction
iii. What are you thinking?
iv. What’s the quality of your breathe
b. And, if you want experiment – if you’ve got something going on that you’ve stuffed
away, express how you feel with your horse. For instance, “I’m feeling really nervous
about our ride today because of xyz” or “I’m frustrated because what happened at
work today. “
c. Tears help release tension and so if you feeling like shedding a few – go ahead.
Remember – your horse has no judgment. They are here to support us on our journey.
As you release the energy that’s been restricted by keeping it internal, take notice of
any change in your horse. I’m willing to bet you will.