Fundamental principles for honouring the autonomy and integrity of horses in Equine Facilitated Interactions – Keeping things simple, in balance, and from the heart; for the benefit and fulfilment of BOTH species…
The horse is far more than a mere mirror for humans’ feelings and states, or a mirror to the human soul, for that matter.
The horse is also not a metaphorical object to put our projections onto for the benefit of human healing, learning, growth and development.
They are not objects to be used or employed on any level: physically, emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually.
Rather, the horse is a sentient, autonomous, sovereign, spirited being in their own right; with feelings, needs, preferences, desires and wishes of their own.
And a Soul in THEIR own right.
They are allowed to express themselves free from the burdens of human expectations, desires and needs.
They are “an-other” with whom we have the privilege of engaging with at times, with a right to live and behave entirely freely of our projected issues, wants, needs and goals.
And, they have the right, the same as we do, to choose whether they want to participate in any way and on any given day.
It’s vital that we remember this in our work with clients and students.
Because, when we only see the horse as a reflection of something about ourselves, we deny their autonomy and diminish the horse's dignity, even if only for a few moments, skewing the lens in favour of humans once more and denying the incredible gift that each horse is.
Far better to view their RESPONSES, REACTIONS and FEEDBACK as helpful, clean INFORMATION that we can then work with, rather than diminishing their separateness from us and muddying this information with an uneven, human-centric bias.
And, while we can all draw from the inspiration and lessons horses offer us, and certainly learn much more about ourselves through real-life interactions with them, as well as considering the myriad symbolic aspects of horses and how they touch us at a deep level in our soul and psyche, we must always ensure that our horses are allowed to live and act from a place of genuine autonomy and well-being themselves. Not as metaphor-machines; objects, or hooks to deliberately hang our projections and transference on, as unlike human participants who can fully choose to engage in this process, our horses cannot to the same extent.
And, that our engagement with them is coming from a position of complete respect which honours them fully as sentient beings throughout, from start to finish.
To do anything other than this is to do them a great disservice, and in the end, ourselves and our clients too, who are striving to act from a place of authenticity and balance themselves. Because if one party is out of balance, then all will be affected and the benefits will be greatly reduced.
Yet, when we respect this "otherness" of horses, we can then both come into mutually beneficial, healing relationships, which is what we are all really seeking and needing; human and equine.
Ultimately, what this also means is that, each of us in our small way as we do our work, are contributing to a far bigger paradigm shift. One which honours nature and views animals as equal to us, to be respected, listened to, and treated with dignity.
It is my belief that horses are our animal-kin and relatives, and that those of us working in this profession are helping bring about a shift in consciousness and perspective which values and protects nature. A shift which is long, long over due.
©Angela Dunning
This image is ©Encierro and is licensed via Shutterstock.
*For more on this subject, check-out my book: 'The Horse Leads the Way: Honoring the True Role of the Horse in Equine Facilitated Practice'.