“Some clients want to nut out challenges they face at work, at home or in a relationship. Other people fit somewhere on the full spectrum of mental health diagnoses. We might work in the paddock or in the arena, and horses are brought into sessions in different ways. Clients may sit near the horse or lead or groom a horse. But it’s far more than going into a paddock and patting ponies. “While they’re with the horse, people become aware of the thoughts in their head, how those thoughts are impacting on their body and how things change for them when they are with the horse. They notice how the horse responds to their emotions. One woman noticed that when she had bad thoughts about herself, her body became rigid and the horse wouldn’t walk for her. When she changed her thinking to be more positive, the horse walked.” Coffey uses 12 retired racehorses (and is retraining four more) because of their versatility, trusting nature, and awareness. “We have a Shetland pony for young clients, but when she cracks it, we have to put her away! I’ve never had that with racehorses.” One of Coffey’s therapy horses is Hissing Sid, a back-to-back Warrnambool Cup winner who retired from racing in 2015. Sid has a slow and mellow nature. “Nothing is ever a hurry for Sid! He is great for settling nerves and working with clients who are nervous, because nothing fazes him,” said Coffey. Sid, along with another horse, Lagerfeld, recently helped approximately 70 people in Warrnambool learn more about relieving anxiety and coping with life’s challenges. “These horses provided support to those participants that no human therapist could ever offer in the same powerful way,” said Coffey. “Feedback included feelings of being heard, no judgement, extreme calmness, clear minds, relaxed body, decreased heart rates, friendship, conversation, safe touch, support and protection. For a lot of kids, it was the first time they recall experiencing some of those feelings.” Racing Hearts also runs a popular schools wellbeing program where 14 local schools currently attend the farm in school time, working through a program they have designed to link in with the Victorian Curriculum and its Personal and Social Capabilities Framework, complementing the wellbeing work already being done within the schools. They work on themes based on feedback from the school on the individual students’ needs, however, broader themes include emotional awareness, processing and expression,
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