Horses
Our equine assisted services + lessons
Our Equine Assisted services are designated and facilitated with an experiential learning approach which promotes the development of life skills. This focus on life skills can be related to academic achievement, behavior, personal growth and exploration. Through interaction with our horses and reflection upon it, participants can gain an improved sense of self awareness and body language, as well they can learn communication skills and accountability practice while growing in confidence and compassion for self and others. Our lessons are private for a 1:1 ratio, our sessions can be in pairs or groups. Sessions are perfect for couples, families, teams or classes and are unmounted (meaning all interactions with the horses are on the ground and not in the saddle). For more information on our lessons or sessions please email us at info@wildfernranch.org!
Grace is a certified Equine Experiential Education instructor and uses this along with her natural horsemanship approach to create a holistic lesson or session that is tailored to each individual or group.
Our horses
As a part of our missions to serve, we also have our Horse Rescue + Rehabilitation program. Our herd is comprised of these rescues and we are continually grateful for our time with them. Each day brings a new perspective and light to their stories, what they have overcome and their unmatched ability to encourage spiritual, mental and emotional growth.
WHY HORSES?
RECENT STUDIES CONDUCTED BY THE INSTITUTE OF HEARTMATH PROVIDE A CLUE TO EXPLAIN THE BI-DRECTIONAL “HEALING” THAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ARE NEAR HORSES.
ACCORDING TO RESEARCHERS, THE HEART HAS A LARGER ELECTROMAGENCTIC FIELD AND HIGHER LEVEL OF INTELLIGENCE THAN THE BRAIN. A MAGNETOMETER CAN MEASURE THE HUMAN HEARTS ENERGY FIELDS RADIATING UP TO 8-10 FEET AROUND THE HUMAN BODY. WHILE THIS IS CERTAINLY SIGNIFICANT IT IS PERHAPS MORE IMPRESSIVE THAT THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD PROJECTED BY THE HORSES HEART IS 5 TIMES LARGER THAN THE HUMAN ONE. THE HORSE’S ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD IS ALSO STRONGER THAN OURS AND CAN ACTUALLY DIRECTLY INFLUENCE OUR OWN HEART RHYTHM. HORSES ARE ALSO LIKELY TO HAVE WHAT SCIENCE HAS IDENTIFIED AS A “COHERENT” HEART RHYTHM WHICH EXPLAINS WHY WE MAY “FEEL BETTER” WHEN WE ARE AROUND THEM. STUDIES HAVE FOUND THAT A COHERENT HEART PATTERN IS A ROBUST MEASURE OF WELL-BEING AND CONSISTENT WITH EMOTIONAL STATES OF CALM AND JOY—THAT IS, WE EXHIBIT SUCH PATTERNS WHEN WE FEEL POSITIVE EMOTIONS.
A COHERENT HEART PATTERN IS ALSO INDICATIVE OF A SYSTEM THAT CAN RECOVER AND ADJUST TO STRESSFUL SITUATIONS VERY EFFICIENTLY. OFTEN TIMES, WE ONLY NEED TO BE IN A HORSE’S PRESENCE TO FEEL A SENSE OF WELLNESS AND PEACE. IN FACT, RESEARCH SHOWS THAT PEOPLE EXPERIENCE MANY PHYSIOLOGICAL BENEFITS WHILE INTERACTING WITH HORSES, INCLUDING LOWERED BLOOD PRESSURE AND HEART RATE, INCREASED LEVELS OF BETA-ENDORPHINS (NEUROTRANSMITTERS THAT SERVE AS PAIN SUPRESSORS), DECREASED STRESS LEVELS, REDUCED FEELINGS OF ANGER, HOSTILITY, TENSION AND ANXIETY, IMPROVED SOCIAL FUNCTIONING; AND INCREASED FEELINGS OF EMPOWERMENT, TRUST, PATIENCE AND SELF-EFFICACY.
-AUTHOR UNKNOWN