Who Wants to learn with ponies?

​A big part of wellness for me is learning new things and getting out of your comfort zone. Have you ever tried EAL? What is EAL? I didn’t understand what it was until I actually did it. EAL stands for Equine Assisted Learning.

What I got out of it was understanding life lessons thru working with horses. This was both educational and fun at the same time.

We started off in a classroom-like setting, learning about how we are similar and different to horses. Then we got to groom and work with the ponies. It was fun to learn how to read what the pony was trying to tell you non-verbally.

My favorite part was going to the pasture to do the obstacle course. One of the activities we did was getting your pony to stand on a glove. My daughter got hers to do it right away, but it took me forever to get mine to listen to me! This was my biggest take away from the day for me. My pony wasn’t listening to me because I was looking back at him instead of looking forward. I learned that to lead a horse you need to look the direction you want to go, which also translates into life. Always look forward at things to come instead of looking back with regrets.

Other activities we did were getting the pony to go backwards, walking them around cones, getting them to stop moving. and learning how to change their harness. Although, I think the funniest thing of the night was when my pony just laid down and started rolling on the ground! Everyone was laughing but it turns out that ponies do that when they are really relaxed around you.

Doing EAL was a great experience for the whole family. We all learned a lot and had fun doing it. It was also amazing to me how you forget about everything else going on in your life while you are doing this. I was definitely a great stress-relieving activity!  
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If you are looking for a different activity. give EAL a try. Karen has lots of fun and different programs to fit everyone’s interests. Give her a call at 330/507-5172.