HORSEstability Programs
Where Horsemanship Meets Lifemanship
What can we learn about horses that will teach us about ourselves? And what can we learn about ourselves that will help us care better for horses?
The HorseStability Horsemanship + Lifemanship program is a hands-on learning experience that teaches the basics of how to care for and connect with horses while providing mental health and leadership benefits.
Sessions include grooming, leading, and unmounted work at liberty with a focus on creating a true connection with our equine partners. This approach provides excellent care not only for the horses but also many mental health benefits including anxiety reduction and confidence-building while also developing leadership skills.
Targeted Programs for Equestrians and Their Horses
Rebuild & Renew
Recommend for Owners Seeking a New Approach with their Horse
Horseability sessions cater to the needs of horses and their owners. The sessions inspire and cultivate confidence and connection through learning and applying natural lifemanship (yes, not solely horsemanship) principles within a trauma-informed neurobiological perspective. These sessions are great for horses off who are "off" work due to injury or transitioning into retirement as well as for any problem behavior that is a result of trauma or ill-timed reinforcements. For owners who want a new way of interacting with their horses that focused on relationship-building and connecting, this program meets that need one hundred percent.
Confidence & Joy
Recommended for Equestrians Overcoming Setbacks and Fear
It is no secret that getting back into the saddle, or even handling a horse on the ground, can be emotionally and physically overwhelming once fear sets it. Whether it's following a moment that spooked you or your horse, a mild incident, or a major accident, fear can become paralyzing. While the mantra may be "just do it scared," that's actually the worst thing you can do for yourself and the horse you're interacting with. What you both need is to "do it grounded" as you build trust and learn how to coregulate together. To get started on this healing and growth process book a 15-minute phone consultation to discuss your needs and we'll make the best plan for you.
Why horses?
What is it about partnering with horses in a coaching, learning, or therapy session so powerful?
Horses seek connection.
As herd animals, horses experience secure and insecure attachments as well as social dynamics as they learn to survive and thrive with each other as well as in relationships with us.
Horses respond to heart rate.
Because of this sensitivity, we can observe and learn how our behavior impacts them and vice versus, growing in co-regulation ability and empathy.
Horses respond to the environment.
Horses have a fully active brain and nervous system enabling them to respond to the environment and other living creatures for the sake of survival. They are not mirroring us. They are responding to us, providing us with valuable information to explore our patterns of interacting with others. When we discover these patterns, we can begin the growth process and develop new habits of being in this world.
Equine-Assisted Coaching Helps:
- Reduce Anxiety
- Increase Ability to Relax
- Uncover Core Fears
- Identify Frustration Tolerance
- Reveal Relationship Habits
- Expose Limiting Beliefs
- Tap in Courage and Confidence
- Find Your Voice
- Create Space for Healing
- Repair Broken Relationships
- Learn How to Make a Healthy Request
- Discover How to Connect with Others
- Develop the Skills to Work Well as a Family, Team, or Organization
What can you expect from equine-assisted coaching?
The equine-assisted coaching and learning process may be hard to picture. How you can benefit from time with a horse? Grab a few minutes to listen to a simple, and personal, explanation about the process and how you could personally and professionally benefit from connecting with a horse and coach.
FAQs
Equine-Assisted Coaching and Learning provides a unique way to explore growth because horses are willing to engage in connection and also resist it if they don't feel safe. They are created with a brain and body response system that works for their survival. As herd animals, they rely on their senses and one another for protection and also the provision of needs. By entering into an experience with a horse, we can explore what we bring into a relationship as well as what we can get out of it. As a result, we learn about ourselves and the needs of others in a fresh new way.
Natural Lifemanship principles utilized in equine-assisted coaching and learning sessions are built upon the concepts of healthy attachment and building attuned, connected relationships. The principles applied between the horse-and-human relationship equally apply to our human-to-human relationships.
Neuroscience research demonstrates that our brains can change through new and healthy experiences. In our sessions, we explore the cultivation of new thinking patterns (neuropathways) to move toward healing, growth, and transformation.
The way to change old patterns that no longer serve us is to practice something new. The learning is accomplished in our sessions, utilizing principles we put into practice in all of our relationships. The goal is to learn how to have connected and attuned relationships, which leads to healthy development, contributes to healing at any age and enhances well-being.
Although most people believe that trauma needs to be a big life event, anything that causes you to experience fear of harm can result in a traumatic experience and hinder the way you see yourself, others, God (if faith is part of your life), and your place in this world. For example, all these events can be categorized as trauma:
- intrauterine and birth trauma
- abuse and neglect
- domestic violence
- grief and loss
- car accident
- flooding and fires
- natural disaster
- divorce
- family separation
- combat
- detainment/deportation
- incarceration/imprisonment
- homelessness
- poverty
- community violence and civil unrest
- sudden changes in relationships
- sudden and unexpected moves
- individuals eager to gain self-awareness and heal
- mothers ready to discover a new way to relate to their children
- families seeking to cultivate new ways of connecting and communicating
- couples longing for a deeper understanding of each other
- young adults looking for the courage to embrace their college and career endeavors
- leaders and teams ready to find unity in their vision and discover how to work together more effectively
The farm sessions are held in heart of Pennsylvania horse country at Honey Brook Stables, in Honey Brook. If you are from out of town, we will schedule your sessions on back-to-back days or the same day. Feel free to request a list of local accommodations.
You don't need any horse experience at all. Actually, the less you know about horses, the more remarkable your experience can be because you'll show up teachable and without any preconceived notions about what to do. This is all unmounted work. If you would like riding lessons, we can put you in touch with a fabulous instructor at the farm.
You'll want to wear closed-toe shoes and comfortable clothing that you don't mind getting muddy.
When it comes to caring for horses, the expense can quickly add up in order to provide quality veterinary care, food, pasture space, grooming supplies, and board. As a professional working with horses, there is also the matter of liability insurance. As such, the cost of an equine-assisted experience will be more than an online coaching experience. However, what you learn in one session with a horse may take multiple sessions online, depending upon your level of awareness.
Ready to get started?
Connect with Lisa to begin the kind of growth process that will result in lasting change and impact.