Recently, I had the privilege of discussing our veteran’s program with someone new. This was very eye-opening for me in how people perceive and assume what EFL or Equine Facilitated Learning programs do. This person trained in an EFL format that I am not familiar with, but I thought we’d have a field of study derived like-language. Throughout our conversation, I heard verbiage about adding facilitation here and there to support our participants better. Here’s the thing though, I don’t think people always understand the very intentional design and pacing of the equine programming I’ve developed for Michael’s Foundation.
First, I’d like to address the idea of facilitation. Facilitation of EFL is often perceived exclusively as an action. Providing insight or facilitating experiences with the intention of creating an outcome. This is true, but not the entire story; we design experiences and formulate questions to encourage the participant to promote an insight with a specific purpose or outcome. We depend on our training and skills to ensure participant outcomes that serve the client’s goals. A key factor being the definition of the word client or participant.
So, I’d like to compare facilitation to horse training. Both are areas I’ve spent years, even decades studying and practicing. As a horse trainer who strives to build relationship and independent cooperative thinking in my horses, I embrace softness. I prefer a horse who responds to a cue or request at a whisper; that is my goal when training. This means I must be able to “hear” the horse respond at the softest volume possible, like a breath of pressure against the rib cage, influencing the horse to shift away in response. My job is to release the pressure and provide a message that the answer is correct by the stimulus being removed. In training terms, we refer to this as the release, and the quicker the release, the softer and more responsive the horse becomes. There is a crucial piece left out of this described scenario, and that is the processing time needed by the horse. I call this the pause. Great trainers live by the pause. The pause is provided for the horse’s benefit to process what occurred. This, in all forms, is learning. It is a lightbulb moment, strung into many lightbulb moments, creating illumination and a well-trained horse.
To date, I have seen a variety of training programs that focus on busy horses and busy riding. One belief is that the rider should always be riding or giving the horse information. There is a difference between being busy and having a dialogue with the horse. An active rider converses with the horse continually, including listening to the horse through our physical body. A rider in dialogue with their horse pauses by listening quietly, not adding stimulus, and allowing the horse time to process. Busy creates reactive behavior to stimulus, and one might even call some reactions triggers. I prefer a horse that responds, a horse taught to think and process the message then choose a response. A horse that responds quickly at the highest level of performance. This requires a horse to be in a solid partnership, with a rider beyond consistent in developing like-language with their equine partner through dialogue.
Maybe it’s easier to think of it as dancing. The lead dancer does not fling and yank the partner to and fro… They gently and subtly direct the movements in time to the music with their unique style and timing. Learned responses created through the development of a like language to music, or dancing. Dancing with a partner includes the pause, allowing time to process and build a like-language. Dancing with a human partner or equine partner flows like waves of energy rhythmically unfolding thru partnered like-language. Some of the most breathtaking moments come within and through the pause.
What does this have to do with our veteran’s equine program, you ask? Well, it has everything to do with how our program’s pacing occurs by allowing the pause. We intend to provide an environment for our participants to experience the pause in a safe space with horses and nature. We remove the busy, engage the relationship component, and allow each participant to embody their own unique pause. Thus, empowering them to learn how to respond instead of reacting. This is a crucial foundational component by design. Our goal at Michael’s Foundation is long-term and intended to help build community while veterans are learning to better adapt to civilian life. This cannot be done without the pause; time, space, and learning enable all to evolve out of reaction and adopt the ever-changing and empowering tool of responding. Here, we teach that foundationally through the wisdom and experiences with horses.