By ELSIE WALKER


Can you imagine taking a course
and finding out that one of the
teachers is a horse? At the
Kaleidoscope Learning Circle in
Birch Run, Michigan, horses take an
active part in human learning,
becoming facilitators for programs
in Leadership Training, Team
Building, and Human Development.
It’s called Equine Assisted Learning
(EAL). This is a relatively new field
and Tracy Weber, Ph.D., who runs
Kaleidoscope, is one of those that
helped coin the term.

“It’s partnering with horses to
facilitate learning,” said Weber in
explaining the term. She
emphasized the word “partnering”
as opposed to “using” horses.
EAL is experiential. “Our goal is to
create an environment for people to
learn in. We live for the aha...we don’
t tell people the answers but let
them discover the answers,” said
Weber.
Dr. Tracy Weber and Al, a 13-year-old Egyptian Arabian.

Here’s a scenario of how EAL works. Let’s say an individual is asked to lead a horse in a
certain direction. He tries a few different things but the horse just stands there. The
human facilitator then explains that the individual is asking the horse to do something in
a way the horse just can’t understand.

Taking it a step further, the facilitator might ask, “Maybe you’re doing that with people
too?” The individual may have problems communicating with a staff member because he
isn’t thinking about the best way to get his point across.

Horses have many qualities that help them in facilitating learning. They are “present”
focused. Their present is where they are and how we treat them. They have no baggage.
Horses are non-verbal communicators which allows people to learn about non-verbal
cues. Also, horses are non-judgmental.

As to how they interact, horses are animals that like to be in herds. There is a natural
hierarchy (lead horse, horse one, horse two, etc.) in the herd based on trust and
relationships.

In the EAL model used at Kaleidoscope, for every horse facilitator there is a human
facilitator and a equine specialist. The facilitator helps to guide the individual or group in
learning while the equine specialist is there for safety (also watching that the horse
doesn’t get spooked) during an exercise.

Weber is the sole employee of the company; other positions are filled by consultants as
needed.  Amber Burkhardt, a social worker, Stacy Johnson, a family therapist, and Sara
Esckelson, a law student, act as equine specialists, though sometimes the roles blur as
a learning situation might need one of them to step into the facilitator role. If so, Weber
becomes the equine specialist.

The horse facilitators are Al (The Alkkamist) a 13-year-old Egyptian Arabian; Charlie, a
15-year-old pinto and paint; Tigger, a six-year-old draft horse; Tinkerbell, a three-year-old
pinto and paint and Micky and Minnie, two-year-old miniature horses.

Weber noted that almost any horse can be used as a facilitator as long as it doesn’t kick
or bite. Older horses are better, as younger ones are unpredictable.

Here’s another example of EAL. The individual is asked to maneuver a horse around
some obstacles (a bucket or cones, perhaps). As the individual tries to complete the
task, the facilitator may start talking about obstacles in the individual’s life and how they
are dealt with.

Group exercise involves teams, who are asked to build an obstacle for a horse in a
matter of minutes. Once the time is up, the obstacle is put in a ring with the horse. No
one can say anything to the horse or try to lure it with food or the appearance of food.
Before putting the obstacle in the ring, a penalty is decided upon for anyone that breaks
the rules. Also, a decision is made by the group as to whether success is shown by the
horse getting around the obstacle or by the horse being unable to surmount it. This
decision reflect the group’s “power” in the process.

The reactions from the exercise tell something
about group dynamics. If the team is success-
ful, does everyone rejoice or do some seem
uninvolved (as if they were left out of the
design concept and have nothing to celebrate)?
If it’s deemed that the obstacle needs to be
tweaked, is everyone asked to give input to the change or does the project become the
baby of a few? Do some play the blame game for the failure of the first design?

Weber’s involvement with horses began when she started riding in the sixth grade and
became “a barn rat” (otherwise known as a groom). She descri-bes herself as a horse
person and explains that horse people don’t just love riding but love horses. They love
the smell of the barn, the sounds of the horses breathing and eating, and just watching
them. They can get lost in the experience as hours pass.

However, for a long while, Weber lost touch with her horse roots. “There was a time (from
1981-2002) when I didn’t have regular contact with horses and I couldn’t even look at
them in a field or watch TV shows with horses in them without feeling remorseful. I don’t
want to feel that emptiness again if I can help it,” she said.

Weber received her Masters of Science in Service Management in 1999 from the
Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. (Her thesis title was: Researching
Potential Partners for an Equestrian Learning Center.) Weber received her Ph.D. in
Leadership in 2002 from And-rew University in Michigan.

“Both degree programs were learner-centered and competency-based programs that
actively involved the participants/students in the learning processed as opposed to
teacher-centered, where students passively receive information, and knowledge is
transmitted from instructor to student,” she explained.

Added to these experiences was a seminar that Weber attended on Horses and Healing.
The seminar reaffirmed her instinct, that horses were not to be viewed as “utility”or as a
“tools” but as “partners.”

But where did Weber’s “ah ha” of partnering with horse for learning come in? “The ah ha
came from learning about the legitimacy of equine-assisted work being provided by
mental health professionals, in addition to the awareness that while people may not be
in ‘therapy,’ we can all benefit from increasing our self-awareness and use help building
heal-thy relationships,” she said.

“It really brought my passion for helping people, and my love of horses, together.”
Weber’s center provides free demonstrations so that people / company representatives
can come out and see what it’s all about. This begins with a safety talk from two
perspectives: dealing with horses and dealing emotionally (is the individual ready for
what the learning might reveal?) Later, the individuals get into the ring with the horses.
When a prospective client wants to go forward with EAL, the client’s goals and the
program needed is then determined.

The center also goes on the road at times, bringing the learning to the students...horse
facilitators and all.

First published January 2007 in The Animal Companion.

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