communityspotlight Riding With Heart
H
ealing with the Horses is a bereavement workshop cre- ated by Riding with HEART of Hunterdon County, in conjunction with Hospice of Hunterdon County. The work- shop is conducted at the conclusion of a ten-week bereave- ment series for children, aged 5-11. The full-day workshop incorporates Native-American rituals and art, mental health therapy, and horses. Unlike humans, who are predators, horses are prey
animals. Their defensive instincts sense our predatory en- ergy, our intention, and our thoughts. As predators, humans move about, largely mindless of others’ reactions. A horse, however, is an astute observer of predator behavior, and as a result, responds to our lack of awareness with honesty in the movements of their bodies. They are always feeding us information about ourselves through their responses to our behavior. Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) and Equine As- sisted Learning (EAL) are methods of incorporating the horse honesty in therapeutic environments. The emphasis is not on riding but on the interaction between the horse and person. At a recent workshop, the children gathered with their parents in a circle and spoke about the person they had lost. Michael, age 9, wouldn’t speak. He continued to remain on the perimeter of activities. Horses were assigned to the children, who painted them as a means to empower themselves and their horses in the “battle of loss.” It was all leading to the ride to the sacred burial ground. All the other children were excited in their horse’s pres-
ence. Michael stood still. He did not want to meet his horse. Pegasus was brought out of her stall and stood still beside him. Michael looked at her; she nodded back, but remained still. He then started to groom Pegasus. After a short while Michael started to relax, and his eye contact shifted from the
ground to the faces of those around him. He started to talk to Pegasus and then to the people around him. When it was time to go to the burial site, the children mounted their horses, and their parents walked along side. Each child had been given two eagle feathers, one which represented the memory they wanted to leave behind at the burial site and the other for a memory they wished to take with them. A wooden box containing clothed objects repre- senting difficult emotions the children wished to leave behind had been placed next to the grave. At the burial site, the children dismounted and an Indian
prayer was read. One by one each child walked his or her horse to the grave in the middle of the circle and dropped their eagle feather and a clothed figurine from the box into the grave.
At last, Michael approached the grave with Pegasus. He dropped his feather in but turned quickly to move away without saying goodbye and without adding the figurine from the box. Pegasus dropped her head, blocking his retreat, and rested her nose on the wooden box. As Michael tried to move away, Pegasus pulled her nose up and pushed the box of burial objects into the hole. This was the moment that defined Healing with the Horses, a gesture without words.
For additional information and donations about Rid-
ing With HEART and Equine related programs, go to www.
ridingwithheart.org or if you are interested in private EAP/EAL sessions call Judith Schaeffer-Benoit at 201-774-9236.
Hospice is currently accepting registration for the 2012,
Youth Art Bereavement Program beginning this winter. To reg- ister or make a donation to this program, please call Hunter- don Hospice, 908-788-6600. See ad on page 16.
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Somerset/Middlesex/Hunterdon Co Edition
NJLiveHealthy.com
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