Individual sessions with the horses

All the sessions are held outside in the field, in nature with the horses. The idea of the session is to spend time with the horses, experiencing your relationship with them, and theirs with you. During an Awakening Through Horses session, everything in the environment is a potential reflection of your internal state, and the horses demonstrate this beautifully. Horses are great barometers for our feeling state. Put simply, they quickly sense how we are feeling, be it anxious, sad, uncertain, and reflect that in their behaviour towards and around us.

The beauty of this instant feedback is that through your connection with the horse, you can learn to be more consciously aware of your inner reality, and by making a shift in your energy, see the results instantly reflected back to you. This mirroring by them of our internal state helps to bring things into our conscious awareness, where we can process them. 

Horse don’t judge you, they accept you for who you are, and in that moment you feel completely loved and understood. It is a really powerful feeling, like being lit up inside. The horses seem to be able to ‘hold the space’ for another being to find healing within themselves. I love working with people in this way, free in the herd, because it is somewhere they can come, away from any judgement, and be fully embraced and accepted wherever they are in their life. Many people walk away from their experiences with the horses forever changed by their interactions with them.

Being around horses can help you learn how to connect with your emotions in an embodied way, a physical, felt way. The sessions helps you to quieten your mind to be fully present in the here and now. In this state you can be more in touch with yourself and gain insights into how you are truly feeling and coming across. When we try to hide our feelings or suppress them with, for example, alcohol, food, overwork or constant motion, these feelings can fester and cause problems in our lives and our relationships. From that still place within, you can find your own answers and a sense of deep connection and self-love.

Simply taking time to be in natural surroundings and fully engage our senses can help us de-stress and reconnect to ourselves; and being with the horses as well adds an extra dimension.You might come for a session with a specific idea of what you would like to work on, or simply be open to what presents itself. The experience of being with horses, with no agenda, just spending time being together, can help you resolve stuck issues in your life, overcome personal blocks and gain a new sense of self awareness. And with the guidance of the facilitator you’ll be able to see how you can integrate the realizations from the session into your life.

The role of the facilitator

During your time with the horses, as facilitator I will be there to support you through the whole experience and help you to process therapeutically what is arising. I will be quietly close by, observing the interaction and experience you and the horses are having. I may offer comment if appropriate and at any time you can ask me questions. My role is to observe the connection between you and the horses and offer observations and support as needed. I’ll be keeping a respectful distance to allow you privacy to express yourself freely with the horses and you may experience and release emotions in the process. The aim is for you to better understand yourself which may include working through a current or past issue.

Fear of horses

You don’t need to have previous experience of horses to come for a session; many people come to work with the horses who have not been around horses before. For some people it can surprise them how much fear surfaces and this is something we can work with gently at the client’s pace. A fear of horses might be representative of something larger playing out in your life and the session can be a really good opportunity to help you overcome that by gently working through it with help of the horses.

Things to remember

• You don’t need to have previous experience with horses to come for a session
• There is no riding involved, the session is spent on the ground
• The horses are given the freedom to choose how they work and if they want to take part in a session
• Very little talking is necessary, horses possess an amazing ability to focus in on what the client needs, often without anything needing to be said
• Sessions can be one-off, weekly or spaced further apart
• A series of sessions can be very beneficial in getting to the depths of an issue

Cost

Individual sessions – £90  (approx. 1 + 1/2 hours)

The sessions are around an hour and a half, which includes an initial consultation, before going into the field with the horses. I recommend initially having 3 sessions fairly close together, either weekly or fortnightly. The work with the horses is powerful and often more than one session is needed to ensure thorough insight and change. By committing to three sessions quite close together, it allows for even bigger changes for people with their personal development journeys and personal circumstances. We can then review how you would like to continue. The issue you originally came with may be resolved, or it may need further work. However, it is also beneficial to come for a one-off session. 

Some clients find it helpful to combine online counselling sessions with the Awakening Through Horses sessions; for example having a counselling session between the sessions in the field so that we can explore more deeply your experience with the horses and what you can take from the experience into your life.

Location

The horses live near Tyninghame in East Lothian and we do the Awakening Through Horses sessions here in a beautiful area of biodiversity close to the sea. .