Horses for health
There have been remarkable results with children with ADD and with people with interpersonal relationship issues.
Janice Horsnell of Muldersdrift’s horses are magic.
No, they don’t turn into unicorns when it’s full moon, but they do have the power to help people heal themselves.
news correspondent Gien Elsas and her colleagues were fortunate enough to be invited to Janice’s Equine Assisted Therapy Centre, tucked behind Monchique in Larsens Road for a morning to meet the horses and experience the thrill of working with them.
“Equine Assisted Therapy, we were told, started in the 1940s in Europe and then moved to the United States in the 60s before the idea caught on in South Africa. This type of therapy means that the horses are used as equal partners in a therapeutic team,” says Gien.
Janice explained that when working with horses we discover capacities we did not know we had.
“We find connections to the natural world. We also experience subtle communication that can carry over into our dealings with other humans. Essentially the horses teach us to become more human,” explained Janice.
This type of therapy uses horses in the treatment of psychological issues. The therapist integrates activities with the horses within a broader psychological framework. The horses serve as catalysts to allow clinical issues to surface. Obviously an equine expert is involved!
“We certainly felt empowered, thrilled and somehow at the same time humbled when we were given tasks to perform with the horses. We entered their paddock and the horses briefly looked up and then carried on grazing. We were told to go up to any horse and make contact with it. We were not told how to make contact or what to do to make contact. That was up to us!”
Horses are big, especially if you’re not used to them.
“Approaching the horses was a bit daunting but the sense of achievement when the horses stopped moving around and started listening to our voices was great.
“We were given several tasks that culminated in fetching the horses just using your voice. Having completely untethered horses follow you because they want to is quite an emotional experience.
“We realised that we had honed in on our non-verbal communication, assertiveness, creative thinking, problem solving, leadership, teamwork, relationships, confidence and attitude to accomplish the tasks we were given.”
Janice, who has far more than 6 000 hours of horse behaviour observation behind her, does a lot of work with adults and children with psychological issues. She works closely with a human therapist, be it a psychologist, counsellor or remedial educator, depending on the needs of the client. Janice also works with a holographic repatterner.
There have been remarkable results with children with ADD and with people with interpersonal relationship issues.
“We used the experience as a team building exercise and decided we definitely would be back for more!”
Janice can be reached on 082 903 1957.
