The debriefing at the end of each session includes a discussion on the day’s activities always includes paralleling back to people and everyday life.

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Tuesday - Horse Safety, Grooming, & Building Relationships

Today the participants are learning about what is expected and what to except during an EAL program. They will understand herd behavior and how it is similar to human behavior as well as what they can learn from horses.  This is the beginning of their personal journey. They will learn safety in regards to horsemanship, but also about the importance of building strong relationships and developing trust. They start by simply grooming their horses - allowing them to touch the horse, and be close to it, something that takes a tremendous amount of trust. This is the beginning to their growth with self-esteem as horses are large animals and can be intimidating. We talk and show them about reading a horse’s body language and what the horse is telling us through their eyes, ears, body and tails.

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Wednesday - Circuit Training & Skills Development

Today the participants will work on increasing and developing their horsemanship skills and handling a horse safely this includes listening and practicing how to safely approach. Participants will go through a variety of obstacles to learn about leading and stopping their horse, how to groom and interact with their horse and how to use “pressure and release” to move their horse. In addition to working on developing their horse skills they will continue to build relationships with their horses and teammates, and to develop teamwork skills.

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Thursday - Silent Communication& Body Language

We forget how easy it is just to tell someone to do a task or what our body language is projecting. Today’s objective is to use silent communication and body language to guide each other’s partners though the obstacles. Teams learn how to work through a given task without being able to speak. Participants become aware of the difference between “underlining” body language vs “messaging” body language.

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Friday - Boundaries, Communication & Teamwork

Today’s objective is teamwork - encouraging groups to work hard as a team to solve problems within designated boundaries. In order to find success, the participants need to communicate effectively and work together. They are encouraged to discuss different options and problem solve. Did they formulate a plan? Were they listening to their teammates and at the same time observe what their horse was saying? Did they include the horse as part of their team? Each team’s horse has two lead ropes attached to its halter, one long and one short. The goal is to get teams to think about what they have to do as a unit in order to complete each task. Teams were given several rules for today’s courses: No double-grabbing (only one hand on the lead rope), No flower-picking (the horse picking at the flowers or losing track of the goal), No loopy on the ground (lead rope cannot touch the ground), No stepping over the rails, and for one obstacle no touching their horse. It was important to remember the rules when attempting to complete each obstacle because it helps participants focus on the objective and encourages teamwork and communication.

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