Therapy with horses
Assisted coaching with free to roam horses
Unique wellbeing practitioners
Guest post from our friends at Aura Coaching, Spain
Horses have accompanied humanity since time immemorial in our evolution as a species, and without them, we would not be where we are. They have been food, they have helped us till fields, have been our means of transport for years, and warriors in battle, elite athletes, and a form of leisure. In most recent decades, they have also become therapists in hippotherapy, equine therapy and psychotherapy, with the coaching through horses modality arriving in Europe in 2003.
Our mission at Aura is to help build a better world through the love of horses.
Own methodology
To make this possible, we work with our own methodology, which combines tools of Mindfulness, Heart Coherence, Emotional Intelligence, Non-verbal Communication, Coaching, Systemic Constellations, NLP and Enneagram of Personality, among others.
The Aura methodology is the result of the experience acquired year after year, of the experiences that each of the Aura family members have had individually, jointly as a herd in our day-to-day lives and in-session, accompanying each of the clients who have trusted us.
All the tools and wisdom of the Aura herd are at our clients’ service in an invitation for each to meet, explore and rediscover themselves while considering invaluable options that have not yet existed to them. Thanks to delicate and deep work, the coaching we present can lead to change, overcoming blockages, fears and beliefs and transforming what is limiting into an enabler. Session after session, the act of learning about oneself, about our qualities, abilities, virtues and passions, expands our capabilities and allows for unsuspected resources to emerge to help us face the comings and goings of life.
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Accompaniment from freedom
Our accompaniment is carried out in the middle of nature with a herd of horses rescued from abuse, abandonment and exploitation, who have gone through a process of physical, mental and emotional recovery and who now live in freedom, dedicating 95% of their time to being horses fulfilling their biological function. The remaining 5% of their time is generously offered to accompany people on their life journeys.
Many ways
There are many ways to be and/or work with horses. For Aura, their well-being and their quality of life are paramount.
The Aura herd is made up of 12 members: Reina, Estrella, Ciro, Shanty, Escarlata, Blanqueta, Bombó, Paris, Cronos, India-Marah, Llampec and Luna; all adopted from a horse shelter, recovered physically, psychically and emotionally from abandonment and abuse, and returned to their natural habitat.
They live in freedom on a stretch of land of 43 hectares (430,000 m2) between meadows, forests and fields. They eat naturally what nature offers them: grass of all different types, medicinal plants, roots, bark, fruit trees …
As in the wild, they go barefoot (no horseshoes), roaming in freedom on a stretch of land where the different soil types (earth, grass, sand, rock, water …) are very beneficial to their hooves.
They are not tamed for riding, nor are they mounted or worked on the track.
95% of their time is spent as horses, living like horses. The remaining 5% is spent accompanying people on their life paths from foot-to-ground interaction to an intimate connection of Being to Being and genuine heart-to-heart communication.
Meet the team:
Image 1 | From left to right: Shanty, Ciro, Luna and Escarlata
Image 2 | From left to right:: India-Marah, Cronos and Estrella
Image 3 | And…. Paris
The herd’s interaction always comes from the freedom of movement, action, decision and expression of each member of the herd, with all of their needs being covered without exception.
The sessions take place in their habitat without any type of conditioning (no track, no ropes, no headbands …). They are living their lives, and we are the ones who earn the right to be part of that moment.
Horses are a fundamental part of the team. We work side by side and in full trust, a trust that is forged day after day. They see more, hear more, feel more, smell more, run more…. I trust them 500%. I can fail; they never do; they are always right, always.
In relation to the environment in which the sessions are held: it is a completely natural, mountainous environment with clearings, forests, countless plants and flowers, rivers and streams, and accompanied by wildlife that, when choosing to, also participate in the sessions….
The utmost respect, trust and love characterize the Aura accompaniment: each member of the herd decides whether to participate or not in the session, decides whether or not we can get closer, decides to be or not to be touched…They have all the space they need to go, come or be alone, entering and leaving the session as and when they consider changing scenery, approaching to be touched or moving away, etc.
Each equine coach can express themselves how and when they see fit without any coercion, offering highly-impactful healing movements for our clients.
When this accompaniment is carried out with a herd of horses living in freedom, the experience and learning are amplified and magnified.
Learning with free to roam horses is experiential and has a very powerful and long-lasting impact on anyone, be it a child, adolescent or adult.
Benefits of assisted accompaniment with horses living in freedom
Like life itself, we are constantly evolving, and our flexibility to adapt to the many changes, as well as our willingness to transform ourselves through learning, will make it possible for us to anticipate them or not.
Coaching is one of the tools at our disposal that we can constantly adapt and re-adapt to be used at different times in life as we need it.
And if free-roaming equines are involved in these Coaching processes:
1. You will open your mind and enrich your heart
Horses perceive everything you feel and come to you through the Soul and the feeling of the heart.
2. You will learn to flow
Without fluidity, there is no happiness. When we are in-flow, we integrate into life; there are no obstacles or worries; we enjoy and push our capabilities to unexpected limits. The horse flows with life at all times in an act as important as breathing and shows us the best way to flow in our own life.
3. You will learn to feel optimistic
Optimism always has a projection. The greater the uncertainty, the greater the need for optimism. It is a way to energize the Spirit. Interacting with horses voluntarily and collaboratively empowers us on unexpected levels, making us feel capable of anything.
4. You will find emotional balance
You will be able to:
- face fear with greater calm and perspective
- cope with anger by understanding what or who drives you crazy and why
- face sadness by accepting reality and being 100% present
Horses interact with us on an emotional level, and with their infinite generosity, they show us our moods so that we can see ourselves with new eyes and thus be able to act more healthily.
5. You will improve your relationships
You learn to communicate better and more consistently, so you tune in more with others without much interference (prejudice, anxiety, boredom …). Each horse has its own way of relating, so you will be able to learn different ways of approaching and developing your negotiation skills. Free horses live incoherence and tell us very clearly when we are not coherent (which is the majority of the time), therefore teaching us to live from coherence.
6. You will increase your self-confidence
You will be able to:
- speak directly
- show respect for others
- apologize when you have made a mistake
- practice recognition
- listen before you speak
- keep your commitments
In communicating with horses, we have to be very clear; otherwise, they do not understand what we ask of them. Without respect, we won’t be able to have authentic communication, and without listening to them, we will not have the collaboration that we seek.
7. You will learn to forgive
To forgive is not to forget but to live in peace with the offence. Horses, like other animals, forgive; they don’t get caught up in resentment.
8. You will develop tenderness
Tenderness is a mixture of sweetness and love, thanks to which practically everything can be achieved. The horse will give us everything if we are tender and act from the heart, which allows us to learn to do it with other humans.
9. You will discover your talents
True talent is pure enjoyment! Your vocation is your mission. Daily decisions shape your life, so it is important to connect with the young, playful and curious part of you that is the one who will lead you to your purpose. Knowing what your values and virtues are and what inspires you will promote creative growth.
10. You will feel excited and happy
Excitement is the magic ingredient of every vocation. Happiness comes through excitement. Now, to be happy, you have to be brave. Action is the antidote to fear, so….
Let’s get to it!
Our invitation
To share the immense wisdom of these majestic beings with you, we have created the Aura School online, with proposals to get you started and/or advance your personal growth or professional development.
We hope to meet you very soon.
Learn more about our school by clicking here.
We thank Karin Cánovas Bono for sharing her amazing team with us; please let them know we sent you! xxx
