12 Year Old Thomas

Thomas was a 12-year-old was referred to The Paddock Practitioner by his psychologist. Thomas was not responding to sessions and often shut down and became guarded.

He has a past history of depression, low motivation and poor school attendance. He was becoming increasingly isolated. His parents were concerned about his overall health and wellbeing.

Thomas has several sessions with us at The Paddock Practitioner. Each session involved mindfulness and meditation methods. Horses can be great teachers of mindfulness and regulation.

Our first session involved introducing him to Noni and Banjo in the paddock at liberty (without any lead rope or head collar). Mel stood with Thomas until he grew in confidence around horses.

By the third session, Thomas was excited to come to each session. He soon approached each horse in the paddock and confidently patted them. As he interacted with each horse, we spoke of how he felt. We also spent time watching the horses and interpreting how they were feeling by their expressed behaviour and body language.

Thomas became increasingly aware of his own feelings. Awareness of his feelings helped us to explore them in depth and bring much-needed suppressed feelings to the surface.

As the sessions went on, Thomas’ motivation levels improved. He was more enthusiastic about being around the horses. His confidence increased. He wanted to explore new ways of spending time with the horses, including leading the horses around with a lead rope and head collar. He also took them through obstacle courses he created from rocks, branches and witch’s hats. He noticed when he wasn’t feeling confident the horses would not follow as readily as if he was sure of the course of action.

Over time, he became very familiar with how to read the horses. His increased awareness of himself and others opened up new doorways and insights into how he approached life. He visited his psychologist during the time he frame he visited The Paddock Practitioner. Together, we were able to unlock the underlying emotions we helped Thomas to achieve higher levels of motivation and more confidence in attending school.

Case Studies

6 year old Annie

Annie was referred to The Paddock Practitioner by another local therapist. Annie is on the autism spectrum. She lives at home with her younger sibling and parents.

On further investigation, Annie also had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and high anxiety.

Annie’s parents were concerned as she was having a rough time at school. Difficulties included becoming increasingly anti-social. She was becoming increasingly frustrated and angry at most people she interacted with, including her parents. Her parents were hoping that sessions at The Paddock Practitioner would help regulate Annie, improve levels of self-control and her overall quality of life.

Firstly, we decided that building relationships was important. To increase awareness of how Annie felt whilst being in a relationship and increase her awareness of how others felt when in a relationship with her. Secondly, we decided to work on the regulation of emotions, to help Annie develop her resources to self-regulate and calm her anger and frustration.

Annie started quite anxious and was ‘running at full speed’. We decided to focus on regulation first, as calming down Annie was a priority. Annie was receptive to mindfulness practices. I explained to her that horses use their breath to regulate their feelings and we humans can too. We sat in the paddock with the horses on the first session and watched the ways horses regulate. Sitting on the ground and monitoring our breath/using mindfulness worked for Annie. She became more receptive and interested as the session went on. She also gained trust in me and the horses.

I asked Annie if she would like to pat one of the horses. She was a bit scared to do so at first. I reassured her that it was fine to be unsure and offered for her to watch me pat and interact with the horses. She was happy to do so.

As I was patting the horses, I asked her how she felt the horses were feeling as I patted them. She interpreted how she perceived each horse. She was answering questions fluently and became increasingly interested in interacting with the horses herself. I asked Annie if she would like to pat Noni with me by her side. She agreed to this and walked on over.

Noni was friendly to Annie and welcomed the pats! Annie relaxed into patting Noni. Noni began to show Annie where she wanted to be patted with her nose. Annie felt this was quite amusing and read Noni well. I asked Annie if she felt comfortable for me to take a couple of steps backwards. She was happy to stand with Noni.

It was coming to the end of the session. Annie did not want the session to end and had formed a bond with Noni. I noticed her to be calm and her anxiety levels very low. She could read and express how she believed Noni felt when I checked in to see how they both were.

Annie and her parents left. Her parents contacted me the next day to explain that Annie was very excited about her time with Noni and was expressing how well she read Noni and knew what Noni was trying to communicate. She even went to school and informed teachers and students of her session!

Annie was booked in for our Horse Wisdom program and continued to do sessions for six months every week. We explored many different activities with the horses and out in nature. We covered leading exercises, brushing, catching the horses and meeting the horses at liberty.

There was a remarkable improvement in her relationships with peers. Her parents and teachers noticed she was less reactive and frustrated. Her communication skills improved. She could better express her needs and wants to others. Her confidence also increased.