Horses Heal Humanity:
Equine Assisted Learning
How Do Horses Heal Humanity?
PHYSICAL BENEFITS
Physical benefits taps into a horse’s natural movements, like its gait and its rhythms,
encouraging core strength, postural symmetry, improved motor skills and more.
DEVOPMENTAL CHALLENGES
Equine-assisted services have been found to help children with developmental delays improve
their social and emotional skills, potentially because of the roles that empathy and trust play in the relationship between participant and horse.
TREATING TRAUMA
One study found that after just an eight-week treatment program incorporating equines,
veterans’ symptoms decreased significantly, and remained that way for months.
“There is something about the outside of a horse
that is good for the inside of a man.”―Winston S. Churchill
Humans Healing Horses
Horses can quickly read human emotions. One study showed they use their left eye when focusing on photographs of angry-looking people, lighting up the hemisphere of the brain associated with assessing risk. Studies have also measured how horses’ heart rates change when they’re in the presence of people they know and trust. Research suggests, then, that while horses are doing much to improve human wellness, horses also enjoy spending time with humans.