Equine Assisted Therapy in Bulawayo Zimbabwe helps with Childhood Development
This little princess has stolen our hearts! Shantelle has been coming to Healing with Horses for almost a year now! This little angel could not sit, crawl, hold her head up or talk a year ago, and after just four sessions we saw amazing things happen. The three dimensional movement of the horse strengthened little Shanty’s core muscles and most of all gave her the confidence to roll over, get up on her knees, and crawl! In that same short time, she was saying words, and she is truly one of the quickest learners I have ever seen! She studies every thing we do and works out how to do it all on her own. In the slightly stressful year everyone in Zimbabwe has been subjected to, Shantelle has been a huge beacon of light to us! Her sentences are clear, she is confident and full of self esteem, and has the cutest sense of humour ever. It is a well known fact that Equine Assisted Therapy is very successful in psychotherapy, the horse mirrors your emotions, and teaches you correct responses. Well, let me tell you, little Shantelle has been a mirror to me in my teaching, she has absorbed everything we have taught her, and reflected it straight back at us! The other day I found myself demonstrating to her how a ball could fit through a coloured ring, and when I said ‘See, Shanty?’ She looked at me with her bright sparkly eyes, put her hands together, clapped ultra slow, and said ‘Cllleeeeeveeeerrrrr girrrllll, welllll doooooneee’ We love you Shanty. When you grow up you are going to be a scientist, an actress, an engineer, a comedian, but most of all a daughter, a sister, and a best friend.
Equine Assisted Therapy uses the movement of the horse to strengthen unused muscles, to improve co-ordination, to fine tune gross and fine motor skills, to provide sensory stimulation, to soothe. The horse mirrors your emotions, reacts to your moods, and will always give the same reaction to the same mood, thereby teaching you to moderate your responses and body language. All of these skills can be carried over into the other parts of your life, teaching you to interact correctly with people, to give socially acceptable responses. Equine Assisted Therapy can be used as a tool for physical disabilities, learning disorders, special needs, grief, behavioural issues, addiction, childhood development, or just plain relaxation!!
For those of us who serve these kids, this is not a job, it’s a calling, it’s a passion, it’s working for God through horses!
For more information, call
Bulawayo +263 773 472 225
Harare +263 774 044 805
