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| Franklin Levinson at work. www.acourseinhorse.com www.horseconscious.com |
HORSEMANSHIP AND EQUINE ASSISTED
PROGRAMS & THERAPIES
by Franklin
Levinson
I have been a professional horseman, trainer and instructor
since the age of 17. At 13 I was the youngest registered polo player in the
United States. Now, at 71 years of age, I have been a paid professional trainer
and instructor for over 50 years. I was fortunate to have established my own
horse ranch on the island of Maui in the early 80s and began a horse trekking
business into the beautiful tropical outback of Maui’s pristine north shore.
This business operated for over 30 years. Prior to moving to Maui, while
working as a riding instructor at large summer camps in Michigan, I discovered
that if I taught the children something about the nature, language and
psychology of horses, how to handle them on the ground, along with how to ride
them, the entire experience was elevated into discovery about themselves as
well as about life itself. A simple
riding lesson became an exercise in developing self-awareness, kindness,
compassion, integrity and mindfulness. Additionally, the skills of good
leadership and how to have a successful team experience were also part of this
unique learning program.
Early on, I learned about the significance of developing trust
with horses. I love to ride but learning about how and why trust is so
important to a horse, brought whatever I did with a horse to a higher and safer
level. Trusting it is safe is paramount to a horse and the most important
aspect to its life. Developing trust with the horse became the first and
foremost thing I did with all horses I interacted with. I began teaching
‘horse’ to all who came to work or ride with me.
In the late 80’s I heard about Equine Experiential Learning (EEL)
which was started by a woman named Barbara Rector in Arizona. I was very
interested in ways of developing the horse/human experience beyond humans
riding horses, so I signed up for one of her programs. This experience significantly
changed my life. It wasn’t long after that I began my own Equine Facilitated
Learning (EFL) program called The Maui Horse Whisperer Experience. This was not
a program that merely ‘used’ horses within its process. I wanted a partnership
with the horses involved. This decision to consciously and intentionally,
‘partner’ and not just use horses, set my program apart from many others that
began to pop up around the country. My focus was not to only to develop a
program that was beneficial to the human but was unquestionably beneficial to
the horse at the same time. To accomplish this, I needed to be able to impart
some basic knowledge of horses to the humans who came to me.
I visited many other equine assisted programs in those early
days and was often disappointed, and even angered, at what I saw. I frequently
saw horses emotionally abused by humans who knew little about the nature of
horses and seemed to care even less. I would question the humans providing
these programs and was frequently told their focus was entirely on processing
the human through the program and not about horses or teaching anything about
horses. It became obvious to me that these people knew little of the real
nature of horses. “That this was not their job”, was a refrain that was often
repeated to me. For a time, I became a publicly outspoken critic of these other
equine facilitated programs. One had already become a nationally recognized
organization. They did not care for me as I had gained some credibility and
notoriety in the field by that time and was openly and publicly critical of
them. Here is an example of a common exercise that made my stomach upset; they
would give a halter to a human and tell them to go and put it on a horse. They
never said or explained anything about the horse or the piece of equipment. So
here is a human with a piece of horse equipment and told to fasten it on to a
horse and no information about the horse or equipment given. The facilitator
would then proceed to psycholonize that human based on the struggle the human
had with the horse and task. Imagine if this was a 7-year-old child and the
equipment was the shoulder pads of a football uniform and the adult had never
seen a helmet, knee or shoulder pads used before. So now you have an adult
struggling to put this equipment on the child and the child being made afraid
by the struggling of the human. This is what I saw happening to horses during
these and similar exercises. A human who is unsure around them will often
create fear within the horse.
In the beginning, the normal model for an equine assisted
program was for there to always be an equine professional present. Eventually,
this requirement was dropped because so many folks doing the work felt they had
all the horse knowledge needed and the added expense of paying another person
was unnecessary. It seemed that if someone had owned a horse in their life or
ridden a fair amount that was all the horse experience they needed to do this
work. This was and still is the norm in many places doing this work. It can be
easily seen that the horse becomes a fearful victim because of the ignorance of
the humans no matter how well-intentioned they are.
My intention with this short treatise is to motivate as many
of the people doing this work that I can, to gain the experience and knowledge with
horses to understand what it really means to develop a trust-based partnership
with a horse doing any activity with a human and especially within the process
of an equine assisted program. If a program is not as beneficial for the horse
as it is for the humans involved, don’t do it. Be part of the solution in
resolving this unfair and unsatisfactory situation regarding horses participating
in any equine facilitated program. Any mutually successful relationship with a
horse is life enriching for both.
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