HORSE-POWERED
LEARNING
To borrow a phrase, “Reading is FUNdamental”, especially when you read with horses! Our Horse Powered Reading program is perfect for struggling readers of any age. It integrates the building blocks of a successful life - self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision-making – with academics. The program helps students in K-12 grades, teachers, adult literacy programs, parents, school districts, and reading specialists across the area.
Students envision their future selves confidently exploring the written word, opening doors that previously were closed to them. They see and experience reading with their entire mind, body, and emotions by building metaphors for the skills involved in reading.
​
Horse Powered Reading helps create motivation to advance reading skills. Research shows it continues to improve those skills over time.
The use of kinesthetic learning (carrying out physical activities while learning) is proven to increase information retention, provide more engaged participation, and improve problem-solving skills. *
* according to Neil D. Fleming in his VAK model of learning; ** Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development;
*** US Dept. of Education and the National Institute of Literacy
-
Half of U.S. adults can’t read a book written at the 8th-grade level **
​
-
32 million adults in the United States can’t read***
Watch this video of one of our recent Horse Powered Learning sessions
TREATING TRAUMA IN CHILDREN
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services shared that more than two-thirds of children reported at least 1 traumatic event by age 16. The impact of child traumatic stress results in learning problems, behavior problems, increased involvement in child welfare and juvenile justice systems, and even long-term health issues like heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Trauma is a contributing factor in nearly every type of behavioral and substance use disorder.
Children can and do recover from traumatic events, and equine-assisted therapy is one option that can play an effective role. Studies have shown it can significantly decrease negative psychological symptoms for abuse-related trauma and what is increasingly described as childhood PTSD.
What’s truly enlightening is how well youth who’ve been in long-term treatment who tend to refuse office-based therapy are inclined to participate and continue “horse therapy” sessions to further their emotional and mental health journey. These children are literally drawn to the horses whose personality and even life story mirrors their own.
-
Develop appropriate personal boundaries
-
Improve interpersonal communication
-
Help to regulate and self-monitor moods and thoughts
-
Reduce impulsivity
-
Improve social skills
-
Help improve the ability to emotionally attach with others