The EAP modality brings together horses, clients and a two-person team of a mental health professional and an equine specialist. (Photo by Vincent Verrecchio)

Written and photographed by Vincent Verrecchio

After more than 25 years together, two teachers, Donna and Andy, had come to a sprawling fenced pasture to learn more about themselves. Standing at the side of a 4-wheeler, they discussed their assignment as volunteer participants in an EAP (Equine Assisted Psychotherapy) session. The wooden cart hitched to the utility vehicle behind them overflowed with plastic pipes, poles, cones, hula-hoops, and seeming remnants from a toy store clearance sale.

Four Icelandic “instructors” for the session grazed on the far other side of the field, focused downward with muzzles in the grass, tails flicking without concern. English was not their native language, but as with all horses, they could sense and respond to moods and unintentional signals of body language. Now though, they seemed to ignore the people who shared the field with them.

The EAP modality brings together horses, clients, and a two-person team of a mental health professional and an equine specialist. The team assigns to clients a horse-based activity that requires no riding or previous equine experience.

Bobbie Shannon, a local licensed mental health counselor with more than 20 years clinical experience, is certified for EAP by EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association). Founded in 1999, EAGALA is now in 41 countries. Bobbie says, “EAP is effective when clients are open to the experience of what happens in ground activity with a horse. There is no right or wrong conclusion to the activity.

The point is the process itself. It can bring up feelings that the client may be unaware of. It encourages clients to exercise creative thinking and problem-solving skills, and to view themselves from outside their box. This box could be substance abuse, depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorder, or any emotional or relational issues that limit happiness and fulfillment.”

Sara Lyter, a local EAGALA Certified Equine Specialist, owns the farm and herd used for EAP sessions. She brings more than 20 years of riding and equine work to training and maintaining program horses. While she and Bobbie stand inconspicuously to the side during a session, she observes the actions and interactions of horses and clients. She says, “Whether you’re riding a horse, or just being with one, the experience can always be a lesson.

A horse picks up on the client’s energy and emotion, and reacts honestly. While the clients interact freely with the horses, we look for themes and patterns of behavior. Afterwards, we help clients think about what happened, and what they felt, as a metaphor for their lives outside the fence.”

The session begins with clients identifying a personal issue to be addressed. Donna wanted to build confidence. Andy said he lacked organizational skills. Both had very limited experience with horses. Bobbie and Sara assigned them the “Cluttered Alley,” one of many possible activities. The objective was to “use anything within the fenced area to build a path wide enough for a horse to a pass through.”

Using only items only from within the cart, Donna and Andy jointly carried pipes and other items to a site selected by Andy where he directed the design and personally positioned the clutter. At that point, their task was technically finished. The instructions were that the path be wide enough to allow passage; not that horses had to actually go through.

With the teachers in slow and resolute pursuit, the horses mostly strolled away, pausing for an occasional stroke, but never considering the pathway.

After the session, Donna admitted that she was hesitant to touch the horse’s face. “I liked to observe … do it calmly. The more time that I spent near the horse, the calmer I felt. When you have calm, you feel more confident.”

Andy concluded, “I learned that I can be organized when I put my mind to it. I felt good acting it out. Didn’t feel aggravated when the horse wouldn’t follow…enjoyed touching her soft nose.”

After the teachers left with smiles, Bobbie explained that EAP not only helps couples, but groups such as business people trying to improve teamwork. It is also intended for individuals and I was then invited to participate. My initial reaction was to wonder what I was willing to reveal about myself in print.

I acknowledged an issue common to many people of my age and temperament. I started working in seventh grade growing a paper route and had a job ever since. A drive to continually improve carried me through more than 40 years in advertising as a copywriter, art director, photographer, creative director, and ultimately agency owner. For many of those years, I was also active with horses of many breeds. Now, after selling my agency, I felt adrift, floundering for a sense of purpose, even though still involved with riding.

My assignment was to organize anything within Sara’s covered arena to represent my past, present, and future, and to move three mini-horse mares through it. The cart of “tools” was there. Two steel round pens, side by side, filled the width of the far quarter of the arena. I wondered if the gates had been left open on purpose.

After I removed the minis’ halters, I waited to see what they would do without my influence. Two walked into a pen. With no plan other than structuring the situation, I gestured to coax the third mare to follow her companions. She was nice enough to comply. After closing them in, I carried two plastic pipes from the cart and placed them at the base of the gate as a visual chute. I re-entered and they darted out past the pipes, dispersing through the arena, kicking heels, exploring, acting as if they had been suddenly freed after extended confinement.

I closed both pens and announced that I was done.  The pens were my past; the chute, my present; the arena, my future. The article you have just read is evidence of what the EAP session reaffirmed. I was already on a course of renewed purpose, doing the writing and photography that I had always enjoyed but now within the openness of a big new arena.