On Entering the Field of Equine Assisted Activities & Therapies...

In December of 2009, I participated in a PATH Intl. On-Site Workshop & Certification (OSWC) and became a certified Registered Level Therapeutic Riding Instructor. It was the weekend I turned 31. During the then-three-day training and test, I remember feeling a mixture of nervousness, performance anxiety and over-the-moon excitement about entering the field of Equine Assisted Activities & Therapies (EAAT) in an official sort of way. When it was over, I wrote this in my journal:

After everyone tested, I got the Evaluators’ feedback. On a document titled “Evaluator Recommendations,” they checked the box next to “Recommend PATH Intl. Instructor Status.” I’ve passed and just like that, I feel part of a new professional world. More than a certification, I have forever changed the way I will define myself and my life. My identity has shifted and from here on, I see part of my life’s purpose as continuing to learn all I can about horses and disabilities, as well as how to maximize the profound potential of the horse to improve human lives. It’s funny to me that I’ve just turned 31 and only now become a therapeutic horseback riding instructor. It seems like all I ever really wanted to be. 

It was a great moment in my life, which came after several years of emotional and financial hardship. About a year and a half before the certification, I had finally owned my life-long love of horses and riding in a way that meant I had to have and keep horses in my life. I had also understood that being a teacher, and supporting those with unique challenges, is part of who I am. Teaching therapeutic horseback riding seemed the natural merger of these two realizations. The year of training had its ups and downs, but the OSWC felt – for me – like a joyful experience of learning and succeeding.

Not to say I wasn’t stressed! Testing in the EAAT field essentially means doing what we do everyday - teaching individuals with special needs (who may or may not have "impulsivity" as a very real component of their disability) on horses (large prey animals with a flight reflex) - but undertaking this already somewhat stressful endeavor under the scrutiny of evaluation. I think one would have to lack awareness to not be at least a little nervous. Also, back then, I didn’t get to ride as frequently as I should have to prepare for a career as a riding instructor, so I was particularly nervous about the riding test.

 

A funny thing happened, though. At the OSWC, I was sitting in a quiet spot at High Hopes (the center where I did the test), dressed in my breeches and waiting to be called to ride. I felt like such an imposter. (I was really an English teacher, dressed up as a riding instructor!) To distract myself, I leafed through the training materials that had been distributed at the OSWC and happened upon an essay titled “On Mentoring,” which had been written by none other than Bonnie J. Perrault. The name Bonnie Perrault may not mean much to you, but to me it meant everything - Bonnie was my riding instructor for about two years, from when I was 13 – 15, and helped me work through some very challenging horse behaviors with the first mare I owned. She was tough, but she had exceptional integrity and was always both super kind and firm with the horses. Bonnie taught me what I consider to be the foundation for all future success I would have with horses (specifically, to ride from my seat instead of my hands, and the power of knowing my own physical, mental and emotional intention – clarity – when asking something from a horse). I hadn’t seen or spoken to Bonnie in years but sitting there, I was filled with confidence as I read these words from her essay:

At a seminar given for dressage instructors, the participants were asked what attributes constituted a good instructor. The answers were: knowledge, understanding, sensitivity, patience, ability to communicate, imagination, creativity, open-mindedness, professionalism, manners, honesty, humor, humility, flexibility and organization… another attribute is commitment, which constitutes a deep love for work and the willingness to meet the challenges of work… that they never stop learning, and never stop caring.

Making a living as a riding instructor is not easy. I know it now. Looking back, I’m very sure Bonnie knew it, too. But when I look at this list of attributes, which she embodied, and which I hoped to, I knew that doing this work meant more to me than a piece of paper from any organization (which is not to say I didn’t want that piece of paper!). I hadn’t seen or spoken to Bonnie in years but sitting there, I felt like I could hear her saying: Of course, you can do this. You could have ridden this test 15 years ago! And if you fail, you’ll just have to decide if you want it bad enough…. Then just go and do it again. (Bonnie always had just such a way of pointing things out that made you realize they were oh-so-obvious and logical – how could you have possibly missed that?) A lot of work with horses is about commitment. Bonnie helped instill that in me when I was young; in many ways, the process and testing for instructor certification was no different.

So… why the nostalgia? Well, one reason is attending the Evaluator Training really got me thinking about what brings people to the EAAT field, what keeps us in the field and what I truly want most in my working life. There is the ever-present challenge and reward of teaching people with unique challenges to ride horses and hopefully facilitating their safe enjoyment of this activity and its many benefits. But beyond that, there are many questions about how to earn a living, how to keep work fresh, how to keep learning in the field and expanding one’s own potential and contributions.

A second reason for reflecting on my own Instructor Training is that I have several friends who are testing next week at the OSWC at Little Bit Therapeutic Riding in Woodinville, WA. They are great teachers, horsewomen and people and I know our field and their many future students will be lucky to have them.  (Other friends are doing the Advanced Level On-site that same weekend… when I did mine I went home from the first day of testing and caught my kitchen curtain on fire while cooking dinner, so stressful and distracting did I find the process. Not to mention that it took my stomach a month to quiet down after all the nerves!) So, I guess, thinking last week about what it means to “pass” instructor certification at any level got me thinking about what the process meant to me, and what it hopefully has meant to my friends – a chance to formalize a lifetime of interest in horses, riding and helping others into a professional career path. (Again, the pun… I really didn’t mean it this time.) Each of the friends who is testing is so special – brings such a unique and fascinating background to the field. It’s incredibly exciting for me to think about the contributions these instructors will make to the field and the insights they will bring. They just have to get through that nerve-wracking testing and I feel so sure they can do it! Very confident these great teachers will show their best stuff (and maybe even relax and enjoy) their OSWC! They will be awesome!

And don’t forget what Bonnie said: Of course, you can do this. You could have passed this test years ago! And if you fail, you’ll just have to decide if you want it bad enough…. Then just go and do it again.

Notes from PATH Intl. Evaluator Training

Vacation this year consisted of a good visit with family and friends in the Northeast and a trip "home" to High HopesTherapeutic Riding, the PATH Intl. Premier Accredited Center in Old Lyme, CT where I was first introduced to the field of Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies and received much of my instructor training.

This time, I was visiting High Hopes with a purpose: namely, to participate in a PATH Intl. Evaluator Training given by Kitty Stalsburg, who is a Master Level Instructor, Lead Evaluator, Executive Director of High Hopes and a mentor who has had a major influence on my own teaching. I've wanted to do the Evaluator Training for a couple of years now and have completed several prerequisites, including becoming an Advanced Riding Instructor and attending the PATH Intl. Mentor Training. Now, having also completed Evaluator Training, I am officially an Apprentice Evaluator. I will need to apprentice at two Registered Level On-site Workshops and Certifications (OSWC) and receive the recommendation of both Lead Evaluators to achieve Associate Evaluator status. Associate Evaluators can serve as faculty at PATH Intl. Registered Level workshops and they can also evaluate candidates for certification in riding and teaching.

Sounds complicated and it is... a little. It's also awesome to be part of a field and membership organization that takes therapeutic horsemanship practices and instructor training so seriously. One important take away message from Evaluator Training is how crucial the evaluator role is to establishing our still growing profession and to serving as a face of PATH Intl. at workshops and training/ testing events.

A second important point was the vital difference between being a mentor (which might be loosely defined as "an extra-invested teacher-trainer") and an evaluator (where one's key responsibility is measuring an instructor candidate's performance against professional criterion, as objectively and fairly as possible). Evaluating is an advanced and challenging role: one's decisions influence a candidate's professional future, perhaps their livelihood, and definitely the manifestation of months or years of hard work and deeply instilled dreams. (No pressure.) Evaluating requires focus, attention to detail and the ability to let go of all kinds of personal biases and preferences one may have about teaching style or approach. When mentoring one is developing a teacher (one of my personal passions!); when evaluating, one is - however fairly - assessing a teacher. A big difference.

Certainly, there is some overlap... Being a good mentor for PATH Intl. Instructors in Training absolutely means having a proficient working knowledge of the Instructor Criteria. Of course, serving as an evaluator mandates that one stay current and well-versed in said criteria and this can only help one become a better mentor. Likewise, mentoring skills are an important component of the evaluator role, especially given that evaluators are faculty for the workshop portion of the On-Site. By mentoring regularly, an evaluator also practices the teaching and leadership skills necessary to effectively and supportively inform Instructor Candidates of the results of their testing (pass or fail) in a face-to-face interview. (Again, no pressure.) 

The training emphasized for me how important not only well-trained evaluators, but also the Instructor Candidates themselves are to the EAAT field. Instructors in Training bring new ideas and energy and often unique qualifications to our field. They also help EAAT expand, necessary if we hope to come close to meeting the potential need for our services around the globe. It’s exciting to think that as an evaluator, I will help to welcome newly certified professionals to the field and to set a fair, consistent and professional standard for certification.

I so enjoyed spending the day thinking, learning and talking about instructor training within the field of therapeutic horsemanship and look forward to investing more deeply in the process of becoming an evaluator. My goal is to attend an On-site the fall as an apprentice and then hopefully another in the spring, which is something I so look forward to although I know it will be an intense process. Teaching is learning... it always comes back to this!

On Horses and Grief

In over twenty years of riding and working with horses, I have met many people who turn to horses during times of grief. I did this, too, after my divorce in 2006.

My life felt so sad and I was bitter. I tried a lot of different things to make myself feel better: exercise and diet; dating; drinking; buying clothing and ranting at and about my ex. Some of these things helped temporarily, but nothing put me back on track to being the person I had been before being consumed by grief and sadness. I used to be funny, fairly happy-go-lucky, direct and I almost always could see the best in people, animals and situations. This was not true for me when I was grieving after the divorce.

When I finally found the courage to return to horses (which I did by attending a volunteer training at High Hopes Therapeutic Riding and subsequently volunteering in program), I finally experienced a little internal shift - a lightening of the grief, a solace in the activity of being around horses.

In the time since, I've met many people who turn to horses and riding for all kinds of reasons (good and bad), and I fairly frequently meet people coming to horses during times of grief or transition. I have some theories about why:

• When you are angry and grieving, there's "something big and alive" inside you. When you work with horses, you have the opportunity to work with something big and alive outside you. There is great relief in this. It is simply a channeling of energy away from a persistent, internal, negative force to an equally powerful, external, inspiring one. There's a lot of momentary relief and comfort in that experience. Ideally, it brings one present.
• Many horses have a presence that inspires solace. They are large and they are flight animals but they choose to stand beside us; enjoy our company. It makes one feel less alone.
• When you are making an internal life transition (through loss or change), it is powerful to ride. Riding is all about physical balance, transitions and forward momentum. Riding can take the body through this; often, it translates to the soul. Riding can be an incentive to embrace change and forward movement, to see these elements in the light of  positive adventure, which riding should be.

So grateful for the horses in my life and all that they've taught me over these past years.
Okay, enough deep thoughts for a Monday morning! Thanks for reading!