Every year, people from across the world who practice the EAGALA method of treatment, gather to learn more about the program and discuss new ways to apply the EAGALA Model of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Equine Assisted Learning to help others in need. Professionals come here to learn more ways to treat their patients. We were there to represent Berkshire HorseWorks. Read more about this year’s conference in this article from The Mesquite News. The photo below is from a session at Berkshire HorseWorks and is not related to the Mesquite conference.
Kenny Green • The Mesquite News • March 19, 2014 – Since the Mesquite Arena opened, it has been the host to numerous events that utilize horses. A recent event involved horses in a different way. Instead of using them to race around barrels at breakneck speeds or guide wayward bulls back into their pens, these horses where being used to provide therapy to individuals with mental illnesses as part of EAGALA’s annual conference.
“EAGALA uses a specific model for horses to help people with various mental illnesses,” said Lynn Thomas, EAGALA co-founder and executive director. “The way we incorporate the horses, it allows people to connect with them. Because horses are prey animals, they have the ability to read nonverbal communication. We are always sending these nonverbal messages, and the horses respond to that. As a result, through their reactions, we can learn a lot about ourselves.”
One way horses are used is for people that have faced addictions. Thomas said the person with the addiction will be asked to set up a path for the horse to follow. The path will contain various roadblocks and key points during their recovery process.
Kenny Green’s entire article is available at Mesquite News.
