Why How & Who

Why we use horses

What we hear we forget, what we see we remember, but what we experience we understand.

In the wild horses are animals of prey. To survive they must be acutely aware of their surroundings at all times and also have the ability to accurately assess the level of threat posed by anything approaching them. Through the generations this has equipped horses with an amazing ability to read the behaviour of other animals. Within the herd they can communicate clearly and efficiently which improves their individual and group safety. When horses interact with people they react to how we FEEL and not how we appear.

This is the beginning of the pathway to build personal and group communication. The journey takes us through a process of recognising how we are, the desire to change and finding ways of resolving issues.

Who we are – meet the team

Lucinda Carney

C.Psychol; Msc; BA(hons)

Lucinda has a background in corporate learning and development and is an occupational psychologist. “I have found that activities with horses hugely enhance the outcome when using appropriate psychometric or business models.”

Each exercise with the horses provides a heightened level of understanding which is essential in the transfer of the learning experience back to the workplace.

 

Gordon Cameron

Educator/Equine Facilitator

Gordon has been around horses al his life and appreciates their therapeutic value. He worked as a professional actor for 15 years having qualified with a Diploma in Dramatic Art in 1988. As an actor he enjoyed improvisation. “Improvisation within the acting world may have similarities to our model. Working with the horses in activities is experiential, automatic, take it as you see it, truthful and of the moment. It helps you think outside the box. Sometimes we can get stuck in a particular pattern of behaviour and we have seen how horses can help to change this.” Gordon runs a multidisciplinary physiotherapy clinic with his wife and works with a team of 12 professional practitioners. This has given him the experience of communicating with and observing people.

Sarah Cameron

Educator/Equine Facilitator

Sarah has been around horses all her life and in addition to her equine interest, she has been a chartered physiotherapist for 24 years and has run her own multidisciplinary clinic for the past 14 years along with her husband. Working as a physiotherapist and practice principal requires dynamic communication skills. Sarah uses motivational interviewing to help guide patients and staff to realise their strengths and aspirations and evoke their own motivations for change. “Equine Assisted Team Building has produced very powerful metaphors for change, for both individuals and groups.”

Anne Benge

Equine Specialist

Since childhood, horses have played an important part of Anne’s life. They were in the background during her career in marketing which included time with the Swedish company SCA. They then came to the foreground whilst she developed and ran a livery yard. During this period increasing amount of time was taken with coaching. Enabling clients to achieve more with their riding by understanding what their horses were saying with their behaviour. This highlighted that the horses were mirroring what the clients were feeling. Understanding these feelings paved the way for greater achievements.

“During team building activities with the horses it is fascinating to watch the discoveries that are made. Not only do delegates achieve a greater understanding of how their actions affect others, often a far greater appreciation of colleagues’ qualities is gained, which multiplies the progress towards the client’s goals.”