Equine Assisted Learning is gaining recognition around the world as experts begin to realise that a horse’s authenticity in their reactions to our presence is an effective way of learning about ourselves. Victorian practitioner Tanya McDermott has found that the therapeutic benefits of EAL don’t just extend to her clients; interpreting interactions through the eyes of her horses has led her to become a better horse person.
When Tanya left her marketing role of six years at Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) to follow a developing passion for Equine Assisted Learning (EAL), she described herself as “that middle-aged lady trying to find her future direction”. Having spent four years studying EAL prior, she was ready to take the leap and switch careers. Securing two local jobs four days a week to keep the money coming in, she began developing ‘Heroes for Humans’ in earnest and is now offering sessions three days a week from her 100-acre property in central Victoria.
“The lovely thing about EAL is that once upon a time it was considered pretty ‘out there’. But in the last 10 years it’s been given a lot more credibility,” she says. EAL is a fast-growing therapeutic service across Australia and globally. A unique approach to experiential learning, it offers safe experiences with horses for the purpose of learning social-emotional skills and aiding both personal and professional development. Now available to some clients via the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), it’s becoming increasingly accessible.
“The people who come to me have challenges in their life, and through working with horses they are able to work towards getting beyond those challenges,” explains Tanya. “It’s sometimes hard to put into words what happens; it really is one of those things that you have to just dive in and experience and see. Once you bring someone in and give them the opportunity, they see the benefits immediately.
“The more you do in the world of EAL, the more you find that you just want to engross yourself in it and really take it on because you see the benefits that people get from it, and then you just want to do more and more.”
WHY HORSES?
Tanya believes that many people respond well to EAL due to the authenticity of the feedback that horses provide. “Horses simply don’t have the ability to fabricate their feelings or fabricate their interaction; everything they give you is completely authentic,” she explains.
“As horse people, sometimes that really frustrates us,” continues Tanya, providing the example of a horse spooking at an innocuous plastic bag. “We think, ‘it’s just a white plastic bag, what are you worried about?’ But you know, for them it’s an authentic experience. They’re not doing it to be a jerk. Whatever it is about that white plastic bag at that given time is really worrying them. There’s complete authenticity in what they give you.
“We all spend half our lives trying to interpret what people mean; you don’t get that with horses. People really respond to that and it’s such a wonderful way of getting a sense of where somebody is at, because whatever energy they bring to the interaction, as a practitioner you don’t have to make judgements around what’s happening for people because they get to see it… the horses tell them exactly where they’re at. It’s a different way of learning how to communicate and accept feedback about yourself.
“You don’t ever manipulate it or try and guide it in a direction, because the horse responds to the person as they present. You just allow it to unfold and be whatever it is. Sometimes it can be really busy with lots of activity. Other times, it’s literally just putting the person and the animal together and allowing them to be.
“Probably the most rewarding clients are the ones who have never had any interaction with horses previously. As horse people, we know what an amazing gift it is to be able to spend time with horses, but to share that with people who’ve not had the opportunity previously and to see them enjoy it and then blossom and grow in their confidence, it’s amazing.”
LOVING LIFE AFTER RACING
Horses have always been an integral part of Tanya’s life; at HRV, she was the force behind the organisation’s HERO (Harness Education & Rehoming Opportunities) program, and with her husband a harness racing trainer, they’ve always had “more horses than you can poke a stick at” – from those in training through to retirees enjoying their life after racing.
Naturally, the horses that form part of Tanya’s burgeoning EAL program are all ex-racehorses. “Everybody loves their ponies, but I do have the most fabulous team of horses,” enthuses Tanya. “They are just so intuitive. They all have a very individual personalities and they all have their little niche within EAL; I have some quite extreme extroverted horses, who are very in your face and want to be a part of everything that you’re doing, and then I have some who are the opposite.
Coyles Lane – aka Arnold, because at 17 hands “he looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger” – had four starts on the track but was an “abject failure”. Diagnosed with an arthritic coffin bone, his post-racing career options were limited – however, he’s paddock sound and turning out to be a valuable EAL horse.
“He’s big, strong and imposing, but he is introverted and makes you earn every interaction you get with him,” says Tanya. “If you don’t approach him in a particular way, he will just retreat. But he has the most amazing impact on the clients, I’ve been really surprised by him. I didn’t actually identify him as necessarily being a really good EAL horse, but he’s completely come out of the woodwork and just astounded me. I’ve barely placed a client with him that he’s not actively engaged with and made a really strong choice to be a part of what was going on. He’s the most fascinating horse.”
On the other end of the scale is cheeky and cuddly Villagem, aka Tas, a three-time Group One winner who collected $600,000 on the track. “He was an absolute superstar racehorse, but is now even more amazing as an EAL horse. It’s very cool for him. He’s a horse that obviously was always going to have a really good future in his life after racing – he had very caring connections who would have always ensured that he had a lovely home – however, the fact that he not only has that, but is also able to do something that gives back in a really tangible way… he loves it, it’s really cool.”
Alongside Arnold, Tas and fellow Standardbreds Armstrong (Illawong Armstrong), Toff (Waikare Aristocrat) and Noddy (Kyvalley Mac) is eight-year-old Thoroughbred Bounty, who raced as Mutin. “Bounty, by Sepoy out of a Zabeel mare, was very moderately performed on the racetrack,” explains Tanya. “He perhaps had the ability but didn’t really have the inclination; everybody who worked with him would tell you that he just wasn’t interested in doing anything fast!” In total he had 47 starts for two wins and 19 placings and $90,368 in prizemoney, with Tanya being part of his ownership syndicate for part of his career.
“Everyone had said he was a pretty cruisy, laid-back character, but I’d not had that much to do with him. Being a Standardbred girl, I wondered what I was getting into… but he’s just a doll and he’s settled into life here so easily. You can see why he didn’t do any good as a racehorse, because he really is the most laid-back creature you would ever meet!”
Tanya says that life after racing, irrespective of the code, is something she’s always been really passionate about. “I’ve also got a 13-year-old greyhound that I got from GAP (Victoria’s Greyhound Adoption Program). I was never a dog person, but when we moved to this property eight years ago, I just felt really strongly that I’d like to give a greyhound an opportunity. Miss Ruby came into our life and I now can’t imagine myself ever not having one. Just recently I adopted a five-month-old greyhound puppy; she’d had a really nasty accident and was surrendered to the vets where she was operated on and rehabbed.
“She’s a different proposition,” laughs Tanya. “I’m very much used to the laid-back of-the-trackers in every regard. And as a five-month-old pup she’s certainly not that, but she’s a darling.” Already one of Tanya’s clients has by chance crossed paths with the bouncy pup, producing a heart-warming interaction that got Tanya thinking that perhaps her program could eventually include a canine element.
A DIFFERENT WAY OF THINKING
One of the most surprising aspects of Tanya’s EAL journey thus far is how it’s changed the way she responds to horses herself. “As a horse person, doing the study and now working in the EAL field with Heroes for Humans, the way I interact with my horses is completely different. It makes you stop and think; instead of just doing something because you’ve always done it, you think more about what the horse is thinking and saying. It changes the whole way that you interact, and I think it makes you a better and more switched-on horse person,” she muses.
“Hubby’s even starting to look at the behaviours in his racehorses and understanding that there’s more behind it than just a ‘good horse’ or ‘naughty horse’. They are actually none of those things; they’re just trying to communicate a message to you. I’ve even seen a change in the way that he approaches things and interprets what’s going on, and it’s a change for the better.”
Tanya says it has been fascinating to watch how previously non-horsey clients have developed horse skills, starting from a very different place than most of us in the industry. “There’s a teenage girl I’m working with at the moment, and she’d never had anything to do with horses before she came to Heroes for Humans. She didn’t know how to hold a halter or how to catch a horse. She’d never done any of that before and she was pretty apprehensive, but over a period of time she’s developed those skills. She now makes judgements about when it’s okay to enter the paddock and when the horse is giving her the signal that it’s okay to catch him and bring him in. She’s now perfectly capable of catching the horse, grooming him, and picking out his feet.”
While riding isn’t necessarily part of EAL, this particular client showed an interest in it and has now had three or four rides on Tas (Villagem). “She’s a beautiful, natural rider; she just gets it,” says Tanya. “She’s got a lovely rapport with the horse. Not many of us have that opportunity to begin working with a horse and thinking about everything from the horse’s perspective as you do in EAL. We often enter the sport wanting to learn to ride and it’s usually more about what we are trying to achieve and wanting to do rather than what we can do in partnership with the horse.
“One of my proudest moments was when this client came to me and she said that she’d spent some time with some friends who had horses, so they were riding. She noticed some of the ways they handled the horses produced reactions that weren’t desirable, but her friends were oblivious. I was so proud that she could even recognise what was going on around her.
“It’s a beautiful way to start out your equestrian journey. It’s not to say that everybody who attends an EAL session will end up as a horse lover and rider, but they certainly will have a respect and an understanding of how a horse goes about its life. And that’s really lovely.” EQ
You can find out more about ‘Heroes for Humans’ here.
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