Horses & Children

Chapter 7

Over the years I’ve been asked to advise and assist at different equine programs across the country that specialized in Natural Horsemanship for Children, usually from ages 8 through 18. Natural Horsemanship for Children introduces children to horses and teaches them how to safely interact and create successful horse/human relationships. Children are able to acquire the same love, trust, respect, and compassion that is naturally inherent in the herd dynamics of horses and then utilize these abilities with their parents, friends and in all of their other relationships.

As many of the children at these programs learned how to interact and create a relationship with a horse, it became apparent that the methods used to create these interspecies relationships were also causing a dramatic increase in the children’s individual self-awareness, self-esteem and communication skills. If the compassionate methods of Natural Horsemanship were more effective than those of traditional horsemanship, which usually relied on intimidation and physical force, then perhaps the same was true when parenting children. I remember thinking horses could not only help children become better adults, horses could also help adults become better parents.

During my visits to these Equine Programs for children, many of the parents would tell me how listening to their sons and daughters proudly share what was the most effective method of getting what they wanted from their horse prompted them to actually incorporate some of the same methods into their own parenting. They would also report how it had greatly enhanced the quality of their individual relationships with their children. I remember one mother put it best when she said: “Parents must teach their children to act more often from their heart and not from their head.”

Horses could also help men and women become better parents by just enrolling their children in Natural Horsemanship Programs. When a parent enrolls a child in a school, a sport or most extracurricular activities, they often participate with encouragement and support. When a child is participating in a horse program that validates and affirms the child’s true authentic self, something unique occurs. As the horse positively changes the child… the horse and child positively change the parents.

As the years went on I continued to witness how having a relationship with a horse could actually improve the quality of a person’s self-worth, self-awareness and confidence. Helping horses and humans has not only been enormously fulfilling, it has given my life a meaning and purpose of which I never expected let alone imagined.