De l'Ain Academy

Interacting with horses in a psychotherapy session provides an experiential process where clients can feel, see, hear, smell, and physically move in the change process. It is more than talk as the relationship with the horse provides real-time feedback and application of what is being learned.

The relationship with the horse doesn’t change until we change ourselves. And conversely, as the horses move and change, clients move and change with them.

These embodied experiences are engaging and memorable, creating long-lasting impact.

Learn more by visiting: horsesformentalhealth.org/how-horses-help/

🌿 The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique 🌿

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A tool I use with clients, kids, and myself when the world feels overwhelming.

Sometimes, we don’t need advice. We don’t need to “fix” anything. We just need a way to come back to ourselves—to land in the moment when our mind is spiraling and our body feels like a pressure cooker.

✋ 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding

🔸 5 things you can see
Notice the details. Light through leaves. A speck on the ground. A color shift in the sky.

🔸 4 things you can touch
Your sleeve. The earth. Your hair. A smooth stone. The mane of a horse.

🔸 3 things you can hear
A child’s voice. Birds nearby. Your own breath.

🔸 2 things you can smell
The grass. The wind. Soap on your skin. Horse scent in the air.

🔸 1 thing you can taste or feel emotionally
A taste in your mouth—or name what’s alive in your heart: sadness, calm, awe, gratitude.

⸻

I used this today with the kids, standing together in the field, hands resting gently on Miss Daisy, our horse. It was the end of our week, and emotions were tender—some of the children were tearful, knowing it was their last day with the horses.

This little practice helped them come down from the intensity. To connect to the now. To honor the goodbye with presence, not overwhelm.

I use it with clients. I use it with myself.
Because sometimes, healing isn’t about big changes—it’s about one calm breath at a time.

Save this. Share it. Use it.
You don’t have to hold the whole world. Just touch this moment.

🌿💫💖🌟

🌿 La technique d’ancrage 5-4-3-2-1 🌿

Un outil que j’utilise avec mes clients, les enfants… et moi-même, quand tout devient trop.

Parfois, on n’a pas besoin de conseils.
On n’a pas besoin de “réparer” quoi que ce soit.
On a juste besoin de revenir à soi—atterrir dans l’instant présent quand l’esprit s’emballe et que le corps est à bout.

✋ 5-4-3-2-1 Ancrage sensoriel

🔸 5 choses que tu peux voir
Remarque les détails : la lumière entre les feuilles, une tache par terre, un changement de couleur dans le ciel.

🔸 4 choses que tu peux toucher
Ta manche, la terre, tes cheveux, une pierre lisse… ou la crinière d’un cheval.

🔸 3 choses que tu peux entendre
La voix d’un enfant, des oiseaux, ta propre respiration.

🔸 2 choses que tu peux sentir
L’herbe, le vent, le savon sur ta peau, l’odeur d’un cheval dans l’air.

🔸 1 chose que tu peux goûter ou ressentir émotionnellement
Un goût dans ta bouche… ou mets un mot sur ce qui vit dans ton cœur : tristesse, calme, émerveillement, gratitude.

⸻

Je l’ai utilisé aujourd’hui avec les enfants, debout ensemble dans le champ, la main posée doucement sur Miss Daisy, notre jument. C’était la fin de notre semaine, et les émotions étaient fortes—certains enfants avaient les larmes aux yeux, sachant que c’était leur dernière journée avec les chevaux.

Ce petit rituel les a aidés à redescendre, à se reconnecter à l’instant.
À dire au revoir avec présence, plutôt qu’avec débordement.

Je l’utilise avec mes clients. Je l’utilise pour moi.
Parce que parfois, la guérison ne passe pas par de grands changements… mais par un souffle à la fois.

Garde-le précieusement. Partage-le. Utilise-le.
Tu n’as pas à porter le monde entier. Juste à toucher cet instant.

At Heart of Horse Sense, we’re often asked: Why use horses in therapy?

The answer is simple and powerful: horses feel us. As prey animals, they sense emotion, not status. They don’t judge. They respond with honesty, helping us connect on a deeply authentic level.

Unlike dogs or cats, horses mirror our trauma responses—fight, flight, freeze—offering insight into how our brains react under stress. Their herd instincts also remind us of the importance of connection and safety in relationships.

Working with these majestic animals helps people rebuild trust, face fears, and heal in ways that words alone often can’t reach. It's not just therapy, it’s transformation.

There is something sacred about being fully seen without having to perform. About showing up authentically and being met with trust.

Today, something beautiful happened in the arena.

Three of the horses chose to rest and lay down while a client gently groomed two others nearby. Laying down is a vulnerable act for a prey animal. It only happens when they feel completely safe.

There was no loud breakthrough. No dramatic moment. Just quiet presence. Open hearted connection. And a human being who came into the arena with courage and prayer, hoping to heal.

The horses responded in the most honest way they know how: by resting.

It reminded me that healing doesn’t always look like hard work. Sometimes, it looks like soft presence. Sometimes it looks like rest.



☺️

The work we do at the academy is experiential by nature. In these interactions, we bring our whole selves into the process.

Equine Assisted and Facilitated interactions emphasize the importance of experiential engagement, allowing participants to gain deeper insights into themselves and explore meaningful change.

The experiential benefit is not just about the insight and awareness we gain into ourselves but also about working with that awareness to explore change or difference.

In their subtle behaviors alongside us, the horses provide an objective shifting commentary on our mindset, demeanor, and behavior.

Equine Assisted and Facilitated Interactions supports individuals understanding and improve their emotional and social intelligence.

Exploring Boundaries With Horses

Boundary setting is an area of growth that we focus in Equine Experiential Learning and Coaching sessions. Boundary setting teaches us about our power and how we define our personal space.

Horses provide perfect opportunities to strengthen boundary-setting skills. It is a natural tendency for most horses to test boundaries. A horse feels secure when they knows where they stand in the order of the herd achieves this understanding by testing boundaries and outsmarting other herd members.

The visceral experience of setting a boundary with a 1000 pound horse brings individuals to new levels of personal power. This new strength quickly transfers into everyday life and our interactions with people. Boundary setting becomes easier and less fearful. People begin to hear and respect our requests. We learn how to transfer the power of our intention, while being fully centered in our physical body, to set good boundaries in the area of our heart, home, physical and emotional well-being, and our spirituality.

Working with Horses is a powerful and effective way to explore the integrity of your boundaries and your skill at setting them with skill, respect and ease.

Monday fun with carlotta and clay 😊

⭐️

Wishing a sunny, blessed Easter to all 🌻

Facilitated learning is where the students are encouraged to take more control of their learning process. The facilitator's role becomes that of providing resources and support to learners. In turn the participants learn as they identify and implement solutions to challenges, problems or other developmental issues.
🌟 🌟🌟

Your correction isn’t the problem. The energy behind it is.

In any healthy relationship—human or horse—boundaries are essential. But the moment our corrections come from dominance, anger, ego, fear, or frustration… we’re no longer setting a boundary. We’re reacting.

Real boundaries come from a grounded place. A place that simply says:

“That doesn’t work for me.”
No blame. No ego. No dominance. Just clarity.

This is the work we do here.
The emotional accountability.
The clarity that invites connection instead of control.
The conversations that lead to mutual understanding.

The hardest part? Doing the work as humans to be able to set those boundaries with softness — and to receive them with grace. Because safety has to go both ways.

💬 Your horse should never feel unsafe when you say “no.”
💬 And you should never feel unsafe when your horse says “no.”

That means learning to hear them when they set a boundary — without taking it personally.
And it means learning to communicate our own boundaries — without overpowering them.

This is the deeper work.
The part of horsemanship that has nothing to do with technique…
and everything to do with who we are when we show up.

Because in the end, what we’re building isn’t obedience.
It’s a relationship.