Turning Points Equine Assisted Learning

Turning Points is an Equine Assisted Learning program that offers personal growth and wellness opportunities through integrated interaction between horses and people. Guided by a planned learning experience to meet the individual goals or desires of each participant, our programs empower both youth and adults to discover and realize their full potential. Interacting with the horses encourages the development of critical life skills such as trust, respect, honesty, and communication, while also building self-esteem and self-confidence.

What is Equine Assisted Learning (EAL)?
•Equine Assisted Learning helps develop life skills and achieve goals through non-mounted activities with horses.
•EAL encompasses three main areas: education, corporate/professional development, and coaching/personal development. Students, educators, corporate teams, and anyone seeking to achieve personal growth or improve emotional well-being can benefit from interacting with the horses.

How does Equine Assisted Learning facilitate growth and development?
•Using mostly non-vocal communication and guided by their herd-related instincts, horses are remarkably in-tune with human behaviour. This can help participants better understand ways in which their own non-verbal communication might be influencing their behaviours and affecting the responses of other people in their lives.
•Also, horses are natural prey animals; they need to be acutely aware of their surroundings at all times. Through interactions with the horses, participants gain heightened self-awareness, which is important in revealing patterns of behaviour and allowing participants to think in new ways.
•Overall, horses offer humans the opportunity to experience humility, compassion, and challenge - all critical elements to supporting self-growth and self-awareness.

Who can benefit from Equine Assisted Learning?
•Anyone who wants to improve their self-awareness, increase their personal potential, and gain clarity and understanding of how their thought patterns and non-verbal communication influence outcomes in their lives can benefit from EAL
•In some cases, participants who are already engaged in professional counselling or psychotherapy can include EAL as part of their therapeutic approach. In these situations, the participant’s own mental health professional is also welcome to attend the EAL sessions.
•Youth and adults with various internalizing (e.g., depression, anxiety, eating disorders) and externalizing (e.g., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) conditions may benefit from EAL and will be considered for the Turning Points program on an individual basis.

What can I expect to do with the horses?
•All of the activities offered at Turning Points are non-mounted and involve interacting with the horses from the ground. No riding or other horse experience is necessary in order to participate.
•Information about horse behaviour, care, and handling is included to ensure the utmost in safety for both the participants and the horses, and to empower participants through the learning of new skills.
•Two facilitators guide each session at Turning Points.
•Participants can work individually or in small groups (3-4 maximum) depending on their needs and comfort level.
•Participants may work with one horse or several horses during a session.
•All Turning Points programs are designed specifically to address the personal goals of each participant.

Where do EAL sessions take place?
•EAL sessions may take place in an indoor arena, an outdoor ring, in the paddocks, the barn aisle, or a comfortable classroom setting, and will incorporate different resources available around the farm.