Wellness through Horsemanship
Healing with Horses
Our horses are sensitive and intelligent animals that sense our emotional state even when we are not aware of it. Our unique Healing with Horses or Equine Facilitated Therapy is a complementary alternative therapy and is not about horse riding but about being in-tune with yourself. We use a range of techniques to build a connection with our horses. Become aware of your inner turmoil and feel the empathy from our herd whilst taking the time to heal. Perfect for healing and growth for clients wanting self development. Discover connection and unity. Respect yours and the horse’s “yes” and “no”. Honour your truth. We never blame the horse as they will reciprocate the level at which their client approaches them - this is the client’s time to reflect, honour and work towards being present with no agenda. Join our herd, set your goals and de-stress.
Scientific research has revealed that over 90% of language is non-verbal. Horses don't judge, fix or teach. Perfect for stress, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, ADHD, post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual/physical/emotional abuse. Our success rates are outstanding. NDIS options available for self managed NDIS funding.
wellness through horsemanship
Would you like to connect on a deeper level with the sentient beings around you? Use reward focused techniques whilst honoring your horse’s subtle calming signals. Horses are individuals and so are you. Our approach to Equine Therapy is unique and multidimensional.
There are so many types of horsemanship around and you need to find the one that resonates with you. At EquiTune, we strive towards building real connections and honour every being involved. Boundaries are our yes and our no. Do you know what your yes or your no is? How does it feel? Do you honour it? Do you know what a horse’s is? Do you honour it? Do you know how to compromise when necessary? Horses express their boundaries within their herd. Just like us, they all have different tolerance levels. Horses are majestic and intelligent - we strive for a community of like minded beings that truely love interacting with our herd. The relationship between the Horse and Humans grows through patience, trust and a sense of shared presence. Horses at Liberty perceive humans as members of their herd in a role that resembles the Lead Mare, one who is the heart and mind of the herd. Experience being seen, being heard, feeling felt and getting gotten. Experience attunement with horsemanship: a kinaesthetic and sensing of others knowing their rhythm and going beyond empathy to create a two person experience of unbroken connected feeling.
Start a 3 month course with us to delve right in with us.
Biomechanics with EquiTune
Should you choose to ride with us and our herd, we specialise in several techniques.
Rider / Horse Biomechanics.
Biomechanics encompasses most aspects of riding and training. It is the science behind how a saddle interacts with the horse's back, how a horse compensates for an unbalanced rider, what a rider feels with a lameness and more.
Dressage riders require strength and stamina that is subtle to the unknown eye. Every single movement of a rider affects the way in which a horse carries itself and how it moves. To be great at riding it requires the rider to be in the right position for the horse to express themselves. If you were to get two horses of the same breeding and put a top rider on one and an unfit, unstable rider on the other, the picture would be very different.
In order for a horse to be able to become elastic, round, expressive, relaxed and forward it needs to be able to move without tension and without stress. As a rider, we want to ensure our riding isn’t negatively affecting the way in which the horse moves. You want your riding to bring out the best in your horse.
“Biomechanics in sports, can be stated as the muscular, joint and skeletal actions of the body during the execution of a given task, skill and/or technique. Proper understanding of biomechanics relating to sports skill has the greatest implications on: sport’s performance, rehabilitation and injury prevention, along with sport mastery,” Wikipedia
Dressage riders require a unique amount of strength and suppleness in order to stay in balance and positively affect the horse. Poor biomechanics will create a poor result in the horse and run the risk of pain and injury to the rider. Great biomechanics will create the opposite.
Breathing with EquiTune
Riding using breath work
We breathe more than 20,000 times a day. Most of the time, we don’t give it much thought, since we do it automatically and all seems to go well… except when it doesn’t.
Why should you become an expert breather?
You will have more stamina. In the sporting world, energy is the gas that drives all performances. Unfortunately, stress and excess tension can zap a rider of this much-needed resource. Have you ever noticed how tiring it is to be nervous and anxious? That’s because when in this high state of alert your body uses a lot of energy. All of your resources go toward dealing with the stressor, and your performance comes second. If you reset your breathing a few wonderful things will happen. You will replenish your oxygen stores and you will be telling your brain that things are under control, you can handle this. Your mind will settle and clear, making it easier for you to make decisions. Your body will regain its power, thereby improving your riding potential.
Your body is one big riding aid. If your body becomes impacted by stress, it will change how you communicate with your teammate, and these changes are usually not positive. When your stress response kicks in, it means more rapid breathing and increased muscle tension. Your thinking can become frenzied and distorted. Your horse, being a seasoned prey animal, will surely notice this transformation in you and wonder what’s up. Now you’re both nervous.
Learning to breathe correctly and invoking a relaxation response are powerful tools in regulating stress and intensity levels. Being able to effectively calm yourself means sending a message of calm to your horse. When you reverse out of the fight-or-flight alarm, you regain control over your muscles and your aids. The purpose of your ride becomes clearer and your horse, now able to turn off his own fight-or-flight alarm, can get his attention focused back on you.
Using a breathing halt is like hitting the reset button on a computer. It allows the rider's body to relax from stiffness, and it gives the horse a moment to calm down, come back to earth, and stop and think.
Breath is, as Peter Matthiessen wrote, “the secret that all great teachers try to teach us.” And horses are great teachers.
Riding with your seat
The horse is trying to sense what our body language and posture are telling him, the amount of energy stored in our body as tension is an important cue to him. Being mindful of our seat and body language supports the horse to be successful in translating our requests. They can feel a fly on one single hair - they can feel where your hands are and when you have requested something 10 times in a row. Speaking louder and slower as though speaking to a foreigner won’t support them to feel successful so our job is to support you to be soft, empathetic and very clear when communicating with a horse as well as set them up for success every time in order to nurture the relationship.
Beginner riders say a million things to their horses at the same time. Their seat bounces all around in the saddle while they pull, grab, grip and slap with their hands and legs. At this point in a rider's education a goldie oldie school horse that ignores these beginners' mistakes and just keeps traveling along the rail in a nice rhythm really is truly priceless. Once you can follow the motion, your body understands the basic feel of your seat aids. Now you can practice applying them in ways that feel clear and meaningful to the horse - that’s where we come in with our herd of schoolmasters.
We ride our horses with our seat and reins/legs/etc are additional aids when required.
When you want the horse to halt, you take in a deep breath. As you let your breath out, sink into your seat bones, stop following with your hips, stop pulsing with your legs and stop following with your hands. Without any dramatic gestures on your part, your horse will feel the cessation of following movement and he will halt.
To walk, we breath in grow tall and on the exhale our horses will walk on. Following the horse's motion at the walk, trot, and canter enables riders to coordinate their aids and take communication with their horses to new levels. When you have a solid foundation for your seat aids, you can then become more conscious of what you are actually saying to your horse with your rein or leg aids and of how the horse is responding to subtle adjustments in any aid. As you learn to coordinate your seat aids with leg and rein aids, your communication with your horse will take a quantum leap.
By using these techniques, we minimise pulling on the reins or pulsing legs and seat unnecessarily and thus become mindful of when we make a request and when we have delegated something to our horse partner and enjoy their company: working in tandem instead of against each other.
We support you to build balance, relaxation, passive/driving/stilled seat at the appropriate times, subtle aids, and much more. t’s only through the development of a good seat that the rider can use a combination of the most subtle aids to guide the horse through the movements of the dressage test, seemingly by telepathy.
Healing with Horses for Healers
Are you a healer who needs a cleanse or support for yourself? You have been drawn to us for an unexplained reason. There is a saying: “You can’t pour from an empty cup…” If you are a healer or helper and you constantly GIVE – now it is your time to TAKE and refill your cup.
This experience is bespoke to your needs and will be completely private for you. We will take as long as you need with the herd but allow for 2 hours at least for the cost of $500. This works on a high energetic /spiritual level and adapts to the energies that you are fluent in - the herd and Nathalie will need a day or two afterwards to self care so only available on certain Sunday afternoons to correspond with their weekend.
Send us an email and we will send you date options.