Horses key to resolving personal issues Lucy Rowed High River Times Tuesday, February 19, 2002 Horses have long been used as a tool in farming and ranching but now they are moving into a new field, psychology. “It's absolutely fascinating,” said High River counsellor Cathie Johnson, of a new technique which uses horses to help people with personal growth. “It cuts therapy by one-third.” Johnson and Nanton-area riding instructor Laurie Messner have teamed up to provide Equine Assisted Growth and Learning (EAGAL) sessions for individuals, families and businesses. They held an inform-ational workshop for mental health profession-als at the High River Agriplex Feb. 11. During EAGAL sessions clients are asked to perform simple tasks with horses. How they respond reflects how they handle challenges in their daily life. “I don't need to know what the client's issue is. It's non-threatening,” said Johnson at the workshop."It doesn't matter what the client thinks of the psychologist, the relationship is between the horse and them,” she added. “What we can learn about ourselves from interacting with horses is very beneficial,” said Messner who has training in Gestalt-based therapy. With 20 years of horse experience she said she saw the techniques as a natural career progression. “I had always felt that people were getting way more out of riding lessons than just learning to ride.” She said students would tell her that the skills they learned riding transferred to their daily lives. Skills like learning to set bound-aries or to be assertive. Johnson and Messner are both certified as Level I EAGAL practitioners. "EAGAL is still relatively new in Canada. There have been two training sessions in Canada but it has been taught in the U.S. for three years," said Messner. “It has really taken off in the U.S.,” said Johnson. It was developed over ten years ago by Greg Kersten and Lynn Thomas, of Utah, for youth in residential programs. Pam Henheffer, assistant manager with the Stam-pede Boys Ranch, who watched the presentation, said the value of working with animals is well-known. “I have seen for 25 years how relationships with animals have helped kids. This just formalizes it,” she said. EAGAL practitioners can achieve three levels of certification. Level I EAGAL training is avail-able May 16-18 in Edmonton. For more information contact Laurie Messner. Contact information: Phone: 403-646-2345; Fax: 646-3781 Email: www.winningstrides.com Click here to go back!