At The Holistic Horse and Pony Centre in Surrey,
we have an extensive range of equine-assisted services to suit your needs.
Equine assisted therapy is a way of finding out about ourselves, our beliefs and our behaviours by interacting with horses. As natural herd animals, horses are ideally equipped to read non verbal communication and can pick up on subtle energetic cues. There is no hiding, whatever you are thinking or feeling will be senses by the horse and mirrored back to you.
These sessions are delivered by Wendy Firmin-Price.
Wendy began using this approach in the 1990s, long before most people had heard of equine assisted therapy. She values it as a way of going deeper with people and getting to the heart of their issues faster. She works with all types of people, young and old, and can even tackle serious issues such as self-harm, addiction and depression. She believes that all our dis-eases stems from our disconnection from our source. The horses help to ground us and restore us to our truth, while being out in nature helps to restore our natural sense of connection to all that is.
Wendy holds a BHSI (T), Dip in Practical Metaphysics, M.S.E.C. She is an NLP Practitioner and Spiritual Counsellor.
Therapeutic Riding Sessions (TRS) include ground activities and a riding session. The ground activities may include any of the following: putting on/taking off helmet and body protector, putting on/taking off a head collar, leading, grooming and tacking-up, spatial awareness and understanding body language. The riding session includes the following activities: mounting and dismounting, learning general riding skills, as well as a host of cognitive tasks (e.g. sequencing and planning; building horse, literacy or maths knowledge; problem solving; making decisions; etc). The length of session varies depending on the needs and goals of the individual. They may be 45-minutes up to 3-hours.
Participants engaging in therapeutic riding sessions benefit in a multitude of ways both physically and non-physically. These benefits are categorised into four areas: social, physical, emotional and cognitive.
Social Benefits
Physical Benefits
Emotional Benefits
Cognitive Benefits
Therapeutic horsemanship involves working with the horses in ground-based activities (eg learning about horse behaviour and communication) and horse care. It benefits by improving confidence and self-awareness for all individuals and those with behavioural challenges, mental health concerns and learning difficulties.