The document details the experiences of participants in the 'Finding Futures' equine learning program in Australia, highlighting personal growth and skill development over ten weeks. Participants, including Billy Jo Curle and Jake Plover, reflected on how activities with horses enhanced their self-awareness, leadership skills, and emotional understanding. The program emphasized the importance of authenticity, teamwork, and the therapeutic bond between humans and horses.

1. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
Finding
Futures
Equine
Learning
Program
Class
of
May
2012:
Billy
Jo
Curle,
Jake
Plover,
Ashley
walker,
Miranda
Pugh,
Brodie
Foster,
Emma
Rose,
Brannon
McDonald.
Program
Director:
Emily
McVeigh
Co
Facilitators:
Matthew
Thomas,
Cindy
Jacobs,
Paul
McVeigh,
Sally
Slew,
Razzle
Dazzle,
January
Jones,
Maddy
1
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

2. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia’
and
‘Finding
Futures’
participants
have
come
to
the
end
of
their
first
10
week
equine
learning
program.
And
to
celebrate
the
fun
and
learning
that
has
come
about,
ELEA
and
the
participants
have
taken
the
time
to
document
their
experiences
and
the
personal
development
that
has
come
from
the
program.
2
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

3. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
Finding
Futures
Equine
Learning
program
Billy
Jo
Curle
-­‐
May
2012
“The
equine
learning
program
covers
a
lot
of
skills
and
activity’s
that
I
wish
I
could
have
participated
in
three
years
ago
when
welfare
first
took
my
two
girls
(Billiska
and
Cheryl)
off
me;
I
think
this
course
would
have
helped
and
can
help
the
other
people
out
there
who
are
going
through
the
similar
problems
as
I
am
going
through,
I
think
the
course
would
have
had
worked
a
great
deal
more
back
then
but
it’s
better
late
than
never
and
the
equine
learning
program
has
helped
me
quite
a
lot
over
the
past
ten
weeks,
I
have
a
better
understanding
of
thing
that
are
happening
around
me
and
to
me,
I
have
a
lot
more
confidence
now
then
I
had
when
I
first
started
this
course
if
something
is
bothering
me
I
deal
with
it
or
I
say
what’s
on
my
mind
(
being
congruence
matching
my
inside
feelings
with
my
outside
feeling,).
3
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

4. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
People
may
not
like
me
for
it
but
it
saves
me
from
bottling
up
my
feelings
and
doing
something
stupid,
I
have
also
never
been
good
with
working
in
groups
or
team
work,
I
was
always
picked
on
when
I
was
younger
but
that
changed
very
quickly
with
this
course
by
the
second
week
in
my
small
group
were
having
a
lot
of
fun
working
as
a
team,
problem
solving
and
even
looked
at
me
for
leadership
which
I
had
never
been
before
and
the
most
I
have
gotten
a
lot
of
things
out
of
this
course
is
my
writing
and
a
lot
of
confidence.”
Billy
Jo
Curle
4
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

5. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
JAKE
PLOVER
FINDING
FUTURES
EQUINE
LEARNING
PROGRAM
Feb
-­‐
May
2012
We
work
with
the
horses
for
ten
weeks.
We
did
grounding
with
the
horses
to
learn
about
the
5
senses.
I
learnt
to
feel
more
of
my
environment
other
than
to
think,
this
means
we
can
get
a
lot
more
from
our
environment.
We
also
did
work
on
leadership
skills;
I
learnt
that
a
good
leader
needs
to
be
supportive,
honest
and
loyal.
I
then
practiced
using
these
leadership
skills
on
‘Sally’
around
an
obstacle
course.
5
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

6. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
When
we
did
the
grounding
exercise
I
said
I
was
relaxed
but
I
was
not
being
congruent
and
even
though
I
said
I
was
relaxed
I
was
feeling
a
bit
annoyed
about
my
TV
breaking
that
morning.
Sally
then
reflected
off
that
and
bit
poor
‘January’.
Emily
asked
me
what
was
going
on
and
asked
me
to
be
congruent,
I
then
told
her
what
I
was
really
feeling
and
that
‘Sally’
was
just
reflecting
my
annoyance.
Emily
explained
that
being
congruent
is
important.
We
learnt
about
honesty,
teamwork,
congruence.
We
did
problem
solving
we
did
clear
communication,
empathy
we
did
work
on
authentic
self
voice
and
false
self
voices.
6
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

7. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
Authentic
self
voice
is
when
we
really
believe
something.
An
example
would
be
‘I
am
a
good
person’.
An
example
of
a
false
self
voice
would
be
‘I
am
an
idiot’,
these
are
things
that
other
people
have
told
me.
Emily
explained
this
is
someone
else’s
opinion
and
is
a
false
self
voice.
We
worked
work
on
body
language,
I
learnt
that
people
read
a
lot
from
the
way
our
body
is.
For
example
if
our
shoulders
are
tight,
then
people
can
think
we
are
worried
about
something.
If
we
are
relaxed
our
bodies
are
relaxed.
the
biggest
learning
I
will
take
from
the
program
and
use
in
my
life
is
asking
for
help.
7
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

8. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
Brannon
has
learnt
that
if
he
wants
the
horses
to
connect
with
him
he
needs
to
ground
himself
and
be
mindful
to
the
present
moment.
He
has
also
learnt
that
applying
force
to
get
a
horse
to
do
something
will
not
work.
He
is
learning
that
his
body
language
and
energy
will
have
a
direct
effect
on
how
the
horses
respond
to
him.
Brannon
is
now
going
to
start
applying
this
increase
in
self
awareness
to
both
his
personal
and
professional
relationships.
-­‐ Brannon
McDonald
-­‐
8
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

9. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
Miranda
Pugh
One on One Activity- entrainment
While stroking and engaging with Razzle I felt warm, peaceful, relaxed and at ease with her. My
body was relaxed without any tension. Breathing was steady and I was completely focused on her. I
felt connected to her, didn’t want to leave her side. Felt completely accepted, this made me feel
emotional and teary. This feeling stayed with me as I drove away from session. I felt loved. Just
wanted to keep cuddling and stroking Razzle, I felt distant from the outside world. She wanted to be
near me and not run away. Felt warm and fuzzy for the rest of the evening. Razzle is so precious. I
felt something being released from me, not sure what! Didn’t want to return to reality. Razzle was so
warm.
While focusing on leaf alone my eyes began to ache and my body became tight. I started feeling
tired, it became hard to stand and stay focused on leaf. When I could focus on my whole
environment I was more relaxed, calm, peaceful and warm. Grounding myself calmed my mind
down; I felt warmth around my body. Got a little startled when horses made a noise.
False and authentic self-voice- We need to be true to our feelings. We don’t need to do
something just to impress someone. Being false leads to unhappiness.
Team Work- working together to complete a task. It involves clear communication and
being open to suggestions from other people. Including everybody, regardless of their
abilities everybody’s contribution is valuable.
Observations VS Interpretations- How each person views the world and their
circumstances is different. What I interpret as cute someone else might think is ugly. But
they can’t dispute the colour of something unless their colour blind.
When we set up the obstacle course without instructions people did the course the way they
felt comfortable to do so even if it was meant to be done the opposite or a different way.
9
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

10. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
POEM
Let it go, let it out
Let it all unravel
Let it be and it will be
A path on which to travel
The horses were so loyal to us, week to week. They seemed to want to keep the connection with us;
they drew us near to them. I felt a bond with them and they seemed to feel the same.
Our personnel boundaries need to be flexible depending on situation we are in. Our
personnel space is the area an arm’s width or so around us.
I have also become more aware of what I value and what I need to protect in my life. It’s ok
to stand up for myself.
Anchoring Activity
My highlight during this activity was having Maddie watch my every move; I felt connected
to her, and didn’t want to move to far away from her. I found it interesting how she just
watched me with no desire to move. I felt safe around her and drawn back to her when I
strayed too far. While grounding myself I felt peaceful, my body felt warm and my feet felt
like they were being pulled or drawn into the earth. I felt steady. I felt energy being released
from my back and legs. I wanted the horses to come closer so I could stroke them. I learnt
we can have a connection to people from a distance without being in their face all the time.
There’s some sort of energy, not sure what.
It’s like I’m becoming free or freer.
10
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

11. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
This week I really enjoyed heart activity where I connected to Razzles, I didn’t want to leave her side.
She seemed to want to be near me to which made me feel attached and drawn to her. I became lost
and in a trance, time felt like it stopped for a while, all I wanted to do was to keep stroking and
hugging her. Couldn’t feel her heart beat, but then again I can never find my own pulse but I must
have one somewhere. My heart was drawn to her, she was pulling me in. Once finished and I let her
go, I noticed she followed me back to the group watching me the whole way. When I sat down she
was still watching me. I kept thinking “you can leave now, but at the same time didn’t want her to.”
I felt loved, special, accepted and drawn to her.
Boundaries
Our personnel boundaries need to be flexible depending on situation we are in. Our
personnel space is the area an arm’s width or so around us. I have always had trouble with
this either invading people’s space or letting people walk all over me. I seem to have no
boundaries then get hurt so I end up with a 6 foot fence around me and don’t let anyone in
including people I trust most. I put myself out for people and they take advantage of me and
I feel intimidated and used. Working with the horses has helped to improve my
understanding of boundaries. I have also become more aware of what I value and what I
need to protect in my life. I have a right to feel safe. It’s been great to get a visual of what
I’ve been doing experiencing for as long as I remember. When the horses invaded my world
I felt unsafe and became protective and defensive. At the same time felt I want to welcome
them in and give them a hug, felt compassion for them and a little guilty.
11
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

12. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
Not understanding this concept in the past has made me feel isolated both in the workplace
and in general life. I don’t remember not being scared to some degree in any job, fear of
losing job has always been there no matter how well I seem to be doing or what people tell
me. I’ve always felt different to everyone else, like I’m missing something.
More recent years have seen me find some true friends who seem to accept my faults in this
area and use looks or phases to pull me up. For the 1st time in my life I can be myself without
fear.
When my boundaries are violated my whole world suffers, I become distant from everyone in
my life even if they had nothing to do with the reason. Whenever I stand up for myself, I am
told that I am mentally ill in need of serious help from a psychologist. Most of the time it
takes me ages to build my confidence up to do this, when it goes wrong I shut off completely.
This results in me developing my own little world where I rarely interact with others around
me on a meaningful level. I tune into my music and most people close to me can tell if
something has happen by the music I have playing in the car. If I am happy motivating or
silly songs are playing but if something has happened angry or depressing songs or songs of
resilience or revenge are playing.
I hope to change this cycle and the horses have given me more of an understanding. I am
learning that what I want counts, and that people need to respect me as much as I need to
respect them. I am worth at least this. It’s ok to stand up for myself.
Overall my equine learning experience has been an amazing journey of self discovery. My self
awareness has greatly improved. My confidence and self-worth has improved. I loved feeling the
connection with the horses. The learning I have gained has been invaluable in my life. I feel more
equipped to keep a job in the future. Grounding would be helpful because it would help me see the
bigger picture in a situation. Knowing I am able to make a valuable contribution will increase my
confidence to see myself as an equal in the workplace and make worthwhile contributions to a team. I
feel freer and walk with a spring in my step. I realised my contribution and view of the world is
valuable and can help others in their journey. Sometimes the best things can come along when
you’re at you least expect and willing to try anything.
Miranda Pugh – ELEA participant May 2012
12
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

13. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
Learning!
Wellbeing
Equine
We
did
a
lot
of
work
with
the
horses
(Razzle
Dazzle,
Maddie,
Sally
and
January!)
Before
any
activity
that
we
did
for
the
day
we
did
grounding
and
the
horses
calmed
down
a
lot
and
sometimes
joined
in
the
gathering
with
us
while
we
where
grounding
ourselves.
The
other
activities
we
did
where
clear
communication,
body
language,
congruence
/
Incongruence,
leadership,
false
self
voice
/
Authentic
self
voice,
problem
solving
and
overcoming
obstacles
in
your
life,
team
work,
observation
vs
interpretation,
laser
eye
vs
soft
eye,
mind
body
method,
and
boundaries.
But
to
the
end
of
the
courses
I
learnt
a
lot
from
Emily
in
the
ten
weeks
and
I
can
use
everything
for
the
10
day
period
of
time.
Brodie
Foster
-­‐May
2012
13
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

14. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
Ashley
Walker
On
Thursday
we
all
go
to
the
horse
program
to
work
with
the
three
horses
we
brush
them
and
we
get
to
paint
them
and
i
felt
like
i
didn’t
want
to
leave
them
and
razzle
she
look
like
she
was
going
to
go
to
sleep
we
walk
are
around
the
yard
she
made
me
felt
so
calm
to
be
there
and
maddy
she
love
it
when
i
brush
her
then
there
was
sally
she
was
calm
when
i
got
to
work
with
her
she
love
it
trust
her
with
razzle
i
had
so
14
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

15. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
much
fun
working
with
her
she
made
me
feel
so
happy
and
the
last
day
i
felt
like
crying
cos
it
was
so
sad
to
leave
to
all
the
horse
hope
someday
meet
again.
When
i
felt
uncomfortable
around
maddy
because
i
didn’t
want
her
to
step
on
my
foot
i
felt
emotional
.After
that
happened
i
felt
better
and
more
confident
around
horses
and
people
.
Emily
explained
that
i
had
entrained
with
the
horse
and
that
was
a
good
thing
.
I
can
take
what
I
have
learnt
with
the
horses
to
help
me
in
different
kind’s
of
work.
–
Ashley
Walker
2012
15
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

16. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
Emma Rose
Through
the
equine
learning
program
I
have
learnt
quite
a
lot
about
myself
through
the
horses.
The
main
subject
we
covered
which
really
stood
out
for
me
was
‘Authentic
self
voice’
and
‘False
self
voice’.
I
have
learnt
to
listen
to
and
trust
my
authentic
self
voice
rather
than
my
false
self
voice
(which
is
how
others
perceive
me
and
think
I
should
act
or
feel
about
certain
things),
being
true
to
myself
and
not
just
going
with
everyone
else’s
expectations
of
me.
The
grounding
exercise
has
also
helped
me
a
lot
in
everyday
life.
I
tend
to
overthink
and
stress
about
everything
however
mundane,
so
using
the
grounding
exercise
has
lowered
my
anxiety
and
helped
me
relax
a
little.
I
have
really
enjoyed
spending
time
with
the
horses
each
week
and
always
leave
feeling
content
and
relaxed.
16
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

17. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
This
magazine
has
been
proudly
compiled
by
‘Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia’
and
the
‘Finding
Futures’
participants,
Miranda
Pugh,
Emma
Rose,
Brodie
Foster,
Billy.Jo
Curle,
Jake
Plover,
Ashley
Walker
and
Brannon
McDonald.As
the
writer
,
developer
and
primary
facilitator
of
the
program
,
I
feel
humbled
and
proud
to
be
part
of
the
growth
and
development
of
such
an
amazing
group
of
people
over
the
past
10
weeks.
Each
week
I
was
met
with
eager
and
happy
faces.
A
group
of
people
with
a
willingness
to
learn,
laugh,
cry
but
more
importantly
to
grow.
Thanks
so
much
to
the
ELEA
herd
of
horses
for
your
amazing
wisdom
and
authenticity.
Even
when
we
could
not
see
the
truth,
you
were
able
to
kindly
and
graciously
point
it
out!!
A
huge
thank
you
to
my
husband
Paul
of
which
this
program
would
not
be
possible
without
all
your
support
and
input
to
so
many
components
of
ELEA.
To
the
team
of
co-­‐faclitators,
Paul
McVeigh,
Cindy
Jacobs
and
Matthew
Thomas
.
And
last
but
not
least
to
Tracy
Landt
from
Unicorn
Park
Equestrian
Centre
for
your
wonderful
facilities
and
support.
17
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012

18. Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
May
2012
18
©
Equine
Learning
Experiences
Australia
2012