What is Equine Assisted Narrative Therapy (EANT)?

Equine means horse, Narrative Therapy is a particular type of counseling for people.

EANT has been developed by Horses For Hope over 15 years. 

You could say it is a counseling program for both people and horses, where they come together for the benefit of each other. It has been proven to work in helping both.  

• People come who have hopes of overcoming the effects of problems in their lives and are seeking help for creating change in their lives and finding ways of achieving that. These troubles can include trauma, abuse, neglect, mental illness, conditions such as autism and disabilities. 
• Horses come whose lives are improved by being helped to overcome the effects of problems in their lives caused by, trauma, abuse and neglect.

We have highly skilled people counselors and horse helpers at Horses For hope. The people counseling sometimes happens in the conversations that take place while the horses are being helped by you (with our help of course). At other times   we will have conversations about the experience of helping the horses and how it relates to your life and hopes.   

If you come to Horses For Hope, our skilled counselors will be interested in what you discover about yourself while helping the horses and what you already know about managing the effects of problems in your life. We hope that you will discover things about yourself that will assist you in your task and hopes of overcoming the effects of problems in your life. 

Usually people who do this work with horses and us, have a lovely time as they feel the wonderful connections with horses and the pleasure of knowing they have helped them in overcoming the effects of problems in their lives.

If you choose to join us, we hope you too will enjoy the time with us and find out things about yourself that are helpful for you   

Please note that when it comes to the conversations/counseling part of the program, you do not have to talk about anything that you don’t want to. We will completely respect your right to not talk about anything.

Who comes to Horses For Hope?

People of all ages come to Horses For Hope, who daily experience the very real effects of trouble in their lives including from trauma, abuse or difficulties with mental health and challenging conditions such as autism or other disabilities. They are seeking ways to live their life more satisfactorily by discovering ways to lessen the impact of these problems in their lives.

How Do Horse And Person Benefit Form A Session?

By the end of every program session we run, we want both the horse and the person to feel genuinely better about themselves.

• The horse because the person has enable them to feel more safe and trusting than it did at the start of the session and the person because they see and feel that they made a difference to the horse because of what they provided in leadership (including strength without aggression), genuine calmness and kindness.
• The person because they have followed the instructions of the Horses For Hope team and controlled and managed their emotions and projected calmness trust and respect in a way that clearly enables the horse to respond to them and feel better, safer and more able to take on things that would have otherwise been difficult for it in it’s schooling/learning. With the right help from the Horses For Hope team, everyone can do this.

This is a counseling program - Will I be asked to tell my whole life story again?

No unless you choose to do that order to help us understand how things have happened to you and the impact it has had on your life. Our skilled and experienced counselors will talk with you about what ever you want to talk about. But it is your choice.

How then is this counseling? What can I expect?

The counseling process is a very important part of what we do at Horses For Hope. But as one 14yo participant said, “I know it’s counseling but it doesn’t feel like it”. She had not had positive experiences of counseling and felt defeated in trying to use counseling to help. She would not go and see another counselor, even though the trouble in her life was having a big impact on her and others close to her. 

While every part of the program is intended to be helpful (therapeutic), in the discussions that take place, (the counseling part of the program), we are interested in what the person achieved in helping the horse they worked with. These achievements are gained through listening, and controlling their own emotions to present to the horse genuine respect, calmness and leadership through strength without aggression.

Everyone can do this and when they do and the horse responds, we become interested in how they managed to do this, how they managed to control their own emotions, worries or anything in a way that enabled the horse to see them as safe, strong and helpful in leading it through what might have been a difficult situation. These are often very small steps that the horses are taking which is fine because smaller steps ensures greater safety for the participant.

As trust develops between the Horses For Hope team and participant, more counseling type conversations become possible in which we are inquisitive about the history of the attitudes and skills of control and emotional regulation displayed to help the horse. We explore if the participant is interested in discovering more about these skills and capacities they obviously have and if there might be potential for using them in improving the management of the effects of the problems on their lives. 

How does it make a difference for a person?

Among other things, when a participant sees themselves make a difference for the horse, they inevitably feel good and begin to see themselves differently, as they genuinely contribute to the life of a horse in this way.  This is inevitably a very good feeling and can be like a period of respite from a very troubled life and can bring forward otherwise un-noticed or new skills and capacities in managing problems. 

What horses come to Horses For Hope?

Any type, size, breed and colour. This can include everything from tiny ponies through to big ex racehorses and even the cart pulling Clydesdales.

Why do horses come to Horses For Hope?

Horses come to Horses For Hope that have had their natural inherent distrust of people made worse by their negative experiences with people. This can be from outright abuse and neglect, but it can also be from mistakes that have been made in their care or education, which have led them believe they must be vigilant in never trusting a human being. 

If I don’t have experience with horses, how can I help horses at Horses For Hope?

In each session we will guide you to help a horse feel better and safe with you, even though you are new to them and someone for them to be wary of. Over time we want them to change their view to people in general to being safe to be around, rather than always being afraid of people. 

When horses arrive at Horses For Hope they are often very shy and even fearful of all people. When they leave we want them to feel as if people are good and safe to be around and trust. When a horse walks into the yard with a new person and in their own way says “oh a new person, this should be good, I will have fun” or they look at something that might be a bit hard for them and say ’it’s a bit hard but I will be ok because you are here with me”, that horse is ready to go home. You will help horses to make this transition one little step at a time.

How is a horse chosen for me to work with?

We carefully consider the needs of the horses and the experience and capacity of each person and match them so that both can be safe and have a good experience and benefit from the session.

Will I work with the same horse every time I come to Horses For Hope?

No. Generally each time you come to Horses For Hope you will meet and help a different horse. This is because each horse brings a new challenge and learning opportunities. You will help horses with higher needs of trust building and support as you gain more experience and develop your skills and confidence. This is important for the horses as they improve more as more people convince them that they are safe and trustworthy.

Will I know the story of the horse’s life?

Yes. We always tell what we know of the story of the horse’s life to the participant. Quite often a participant will think that the horse is just like them, having been through some troubling times and they feel empathy for the horse.

Might I get hurt when working with the horses?

The team at Horses For Hope are highly trained and expert at keeping people and horses safe. In 15 years of running Horses For Hope no one has ever been hurt. Of course horses are large animals and even if they are gentle and well educated, they can accidentally hurt some one by stepping on their foot or something like that. If horse is nervous or agitated, then the risks are higher. We have very clear and safe methods of making sure that both person and horse feel and are safe and this has resulted in no injury and we plan to keep it that way.

But every person who enters the horse yard with our team members and a horse must be able to:

• Let us know how they are feeling at all times: for example safe, nervous, comfortable, excited etc.
• Listen and respond to our team’s instructions completely.

These things are essential for safety and if a person is unable to do this then the session will not proceed.

Will I be asked to work with a very scared horse in my first sessions with Horses For Hope?

Definitely not. People who start in the program work with horses that have already begun to develop a sense of safety and tolerance, but still need help in meeting new people and taking on things that might be still a bit difficult for them. As you gain more experience and confidence and when you are ready, you will begin to work with horses that are still more wary and need more skilled help.

What if I am young and little, or even big but a bit scared or unsure about being with horses?

For very young participants or others those that might have fears of being near a horse, Peanut and Alex are two tiny ponies who help people begin to feel safe and end even enjoy being close to a horse. They have been described as practice horses. 

Will I ever ride a horse at Horses For Hope?

No definitely not. The horses at Horses For Hope are not ready to trust people enough to be able accept some one riding them. By the time they leave us they are often ready for that next step in their education, which may be being educating in becoming a riding horse. The job of people who come to HFH is to help the horses get to this stage of trust and learning that it’s ok to take on difficult things such as being ridden. 

What happens when horses are ready to leave Horses For Hope?

Most horse come to Horses For Hope from someone who cares for them and have hopes of one day resuming caring for them. A lot of these horses have been rescued or purchased by their new owner in the hope of giving them a better life than they had. These horses go home to those people when they have overcome their fears and worries by working with us and the people who come to the program.

For some whose ownership circumstances change while they are with us, we seek appropriate new owners for them.

Will I need to wear protective clothing and footwear?

Yes all participants who work with horses must wear a safety vest and helmet. We provide these for you. You also need to wear closed in shoes and if you don’t have these we have a selection of boots to fit most people.   

Should I come on days when the weather is very bad?

You will need dress for being outside when working with the horses. The yard you will be working in is covered for shade and the cover keeps most rain out. But on stormy, rainy and windy days we may have to cancel sessions. Also once it gets very hot (about 38 degrees) it is not fair to the horses, you or our team to keep working outside. On a bad day when we can work with horses, you might like to come along anyway and have a chat and we can do that.   

Can I volunteer?

Just like all charitable organizations that rely on community support, we need help in all sorts of ways.

Our Management Board is made up of volunteer members and from time to time we look to recruit new members for specific tasks. We rely on community funding support and are always looking for groups or individuals help with fundraising. If you have a project or campaign idea we would love to hear from you. 

We don’t need a lot of voluntary assistance with horse care, training or management because almost all the horse work is done with people who come to the program and these sessions are of course private.  The horses are paddocked in small herds on the farm, so they don’t live in stables or yards that need cleaning.

Can anyone come with me?

We encourage you to bring important people in your life with you to Horses For Hope to share in your experience. If you are a child or adolescent we need you to come with a parent, carer or perhaps a supporting counselor, well being teacher or mental health professional.

Is there any research showing if the program makes a difference for people who attend?

Yes.  Horses For Hope is very serious about evaluating what we do in order to do the best we can for people who choose to trust us and join us in the program.

In 2015 an independent evaluation was conducted in which people who attended Horses For Hope were consulted about any impact that the program may have had for them.

The results were very positive and encouraging for us to learn and for people who may be thinking about attending. A summary of the results is available as well as the full 90 page report if anyone is interested in learning more about that study.  

We also seek feedback from participant as part of every session. This happens through an unintrusive IPad based system that asks very person who attends (If they choose to do it) to provide us with feedback that ultimately provides data on the program's performance in making a difference.  It is an internationally recognized program which enable us to measure what we do against international accepted standards.

Would you like to talk to us?

Go here for our contact details.