Horses at Spring Reins of Life 501c3 serve trauma survivors who do not (or) cannot "talk about it". Combat Veterans, At-risk Teens, Bereaved Children.

Spring Reins of Life is dedicated to promoting psychological healing, emotional well-being and personal growth using the skills of mental health professionals and the assistance of horses. For thousands of years there has been a unique bond between humans and horses, it is our mission to enhance and leverage this bond to reach those individuals who are suffering from the effects of trauma, loss, drug addiction and/or the combined stressors and obstacles set forth by either circumstance or societal confines.

Spring Reins of Life (SROL) is a non-profit 501c3 organization. We are an EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association) model program offering Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) and Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) which incorporates the use of horses for therapeutic intervention toward promoting emotional growth and healing. Our program is a team approach featuring a licensed Mental Health Professional (MHP), a certified Equine Specialist (ES), and Horses specifically selected for their capacity to work with individuals who are troubled or suffering. We do not offer any riding or mounted work in our program. While there are many physical benefits to horseback riding, the EAGALA model is a solution focused base that enhances the emotional benefits of behavioral rehearsal and experiential component that is displayed when observing the horses in free will interacting with clients.

Animal assisted therapy with horses combines the positive emotional effects gained from the human/horse bond with opportunities to challenge and explore one's thoughts and internal struggles during activities with an equine partner. It is a therapeutic intervention that defeats the stigma often associated with traditional counseling, but more importantly, it is an intervention that works.

Spring Reins of Life provides services to those populations who have the least access to equine therapy yet are the same individuals who would derive the greatest benefit. Currently, we offer our services to the military and their families, bereaved children, at-risk youth and addiction recovery. We invite you to explore our website and learn more about our innovative and effective program promoting positive growth and healing.

WHY HORSES:

The size and power of the horse can be naturally intimidating to many people, this alone can create a perfect opportunity to overcome fear and learn confidence. To accomplish a task with the horses despite of these fears creates resilience and provides wonderful metaphors to fall back on when dealing with other intimidating or challenging situations in life.

Horses are very much like humans in that they are social creatures and have very well defined roles within their herds. They would generally rather be with their peers. Horses have distinct personalities, attitudes and moods – what works well with one horse may not work at all with another. They like to have fun, they are curious, and are very expressive physically.

Horses provide vast opportunities for metaphorical learning.

Horses have no agenda with us, no hidden motives. They simply reflect the strength of our character, our heart, our commitment, our internal congruence and our self-limiting perceptions and beliefs. Horses have a distinctly amazing ability to mirror and reflect the exact internal landscape of our intentions on a moment to moment basis derived from what our human body language is telling them. The horse’s willingness to trust humans arises out of their keen ability to read authenticity, silently measuring the coherence between our inner thoughts and outer actions. The horses pick up on what is actually happening internally with the humans and then will physically reflect this reality in a way for us to understand. The horse does not speak our words or listen to our convincing tone; they pay most of their attention to the part of us that is true and present at that moment. The horses are flexible in their perception because as the situation changes, so do they. For example, if you are angry and pretend not to be, the horse will only react to the anger that it sees. Change your internal state and you will see a different response in the horse. Within minutes a client is willing to trust and accept the feedback from the horse, as opposed to weeks or months with a human coach or therapist. This is because the client views the horse’s feedback as genuine and constructive and often will demonstrate a desire to achieve or embrace the situation for the horse’s sake.

Horses are honest and powerful messengers.

Horse wisdom is really very simple. People usually equate wisdom with knowledge whereas horses see it as truth. Humans often try to impress others more than themselves and in doing so they lose the truth of who they really are. Horses can show us how to be at home in our own skin and find comfort in “just being yourself.” Horses are peaceful creatures and reward authenticity with unconditional love, support and acceptance. They will carry us no matter what our race, religion, color or creed because they can only see what is in our hearts and that it matches up with what is displayed on the outside. Employing the horses as masters of empathy provides a shortcut to recognizing hidden issues and emotions that can be deeply buried over time. Horses are extremely patient and willing to guide us, if needed they will wait for us to understand their messages or to find acceptance about what needs to change. They will not give up on us as they will never stop offering chances for us to align with our true self. Horses have the tremendous capacity to forgive and start over…and over again. This quality is yet another lesson in growth and evolvement.

Horses are tame, yet wild at the same time. No matter how domesticated horses have become each and every one of them can revert instantly to its primal wild instincts and be completely connected to their essence, ancestry and plug into the natural world. They reflect our own longing to have individuality yet to be connected to a community at the same time. Horses model essential qualities of trust, authenticity, honesty, intuition, listening deeply and a willingness of spirit. By connecting to horses and their natural world, we are able to follow by example and adopt these principals to serve our own best interests and spiritual growth.