Why How & Who

Why we use horses

In the wild horses are animals of prey.  To survive they must be acutely aware of their surroundings at all times and also have the ability to accurately assess the level of threat posed by anything approaching them.  Through the generations this has equipped horses with an amazing ability to read the behaviour of other animals.  Within the herd they can communicate clearly and efficiently which improves their individual and group safety.  When horses interact with people they react to how we feel and not how we appear.

This is the beginning of the pathway to personal/group development. The journey takes us through a process of recognising how we are, the desire to change and finding ways of resolving the issue.

How we use horses

At several venues in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and North London we use one or more horses to engage people in ground based activities through which clients can enjoy new experiences.

An old proverb suggests that "what we hear we forget, what we see we remember but what we experience we understand".

Through discussion with our trained facilitators, both during and after the activities, clients will recognise what the horses have highlighted.

Who we are

Lucinda Carney

Occupational Psychologist 

Lucinda has a background in corporate learning and development  and is an occupational psychologist. Lucinda has found that sharing an appropriate psychometric or business model and using that to debrief the learning around each exercise provides a heightened level of understanding. This is essential in the transfer of the learning experience back to the workplace. The tools which can be applied to equine assisted development include:

• SDI, Insights, Prism or Belbin
• Firo B, OPQ, 16PF or MBTI
• Situational Leadership or Tuckman

Gordon Cameron

Educator/Equine Facilitator

Gordon has been around horses all his life and appreciates their therapeutic value. He worked as a professional actor for 15 years having qualified with a diploma in dramatic art in 1988. As an actor he enjoyed improvisation. ‘Improvisation within the acting world may have similarities to the EAGALA model, it is experiential, automatic, take it as you see it, truthful and in the moment and helps you think outside the box. ‘Sometimes we can get stuck in a particular pattern of behaviour and he have seen how horses can help to change this’. Gordon has run a multidisciplinary physiotherapy clinic with his wife since 1998. They work with a team of 12 professional practitioners which gives them experience with communicating and observing people. Gordon has qualified as an EAGALA facilitator and enjoys working as part of a team. He believes that the EAGALA model is an effective way for people to learn how to help themselves.

Sarah Cameron

Educator/Equine Facilitator

Sarah has been around horses all her life and still rides and competes regularly.

In addition to her equine interest, Sarah has been a chartered physiotherapist for twenty four years and has run her own multidisciplinary clinic for the past fourteen years with her husband.

Working as a physiotherapist and practise principle requires dynamic communication skills.  Sarah uses motivational interviewing to help guide patients and staff to realise their strengths and aspirations and evoke their own motivations for change.

Working as a facilitator within a team of horses and another professional, h.e.a.l has produced very powerful metaphors for change, for both individuals and groups.

Anne Benge

Equine Specialist

Horses have played an important part throughout Anne’s life.  She rides and competes professionally predominately within dressage and is currently working as a freelance instructor.

Anne’s instructors encouraged her to have a feel for horses. This, combined with the EAGALA training has developed her keen interest in observing how horses’ behaviour can reveal what the people around them are feeling.

During her working life she has established, developed and run a livery yard of twenty horses.  Her corporate experience has included a career in marketing within a Swedish based international company SCA.

Anne’s combined experience of both the business and equine world make her a very experienced and knowledgeable EAGALA facilitator for both groups and individuals.