The Pony Express Equine Assisted Skills for Youth Program

The Pony Express provides opportunities for at risk youth ages (12-18) to experience Equine
Assisted Learning (EAL) through partnership with horses.

In our rapidly changing and technology-driven society, today’s youth are drifting farther away
from the practical and natural world. Our six-week program is an opportunity for young people to
develop new skills, while creating awareness and connection in relationships. With the help of
horses, participants develop skills that incorporate multiple forms of communication.

Our program incorporates different learning styles for the unique minds within our community. In
the process of learning how to connect, care for, and partner with horses, participants build
confidence, self-esteem and resiliency, in a safe and judgement-free environment.
In our EAL Skills for Youth program, we follow processes that achieve safety and connection
with horses. Participants learn how to read, honor, and respond to the energetic field that
horses (as prey animals) are uniquely sensitive to. A horse’s need for congruent and coherent
communication creates safety and connection in partnership with humans.
This encourages us to better understand and befriend our own autonomic nervous system (ANS), whose job it is to
keep us safe.

From over four decades of experience working with horses and youth, we have developed a
unique curriculum that includes scientifically studied exercises proven to have a positive effect
on the ANS of both humans and horses. Through our curriculum, participants are guided to
increased awareness and given skills to recognize authentic, congruent behavior. Participants
will develop specific tools to apply in everyday life and relationships. One of these tools is
learning the importance of breath and the role it plays in helping us to stay present and aware
(grounded and regulated in our nervous system) while in partnership with horses. Horses are
champions of neuroception and are gifted in detecting the attitudes, emotions, psychological
states and behaviors of people they interact with. As such, the lessons learned in a horse arena
both on and off the back of a horse, also apply in the arena of real life.

This program will:
· Engage participants in hands-on learning opportunities
· Educate participants in new ways of being, doing, and knowing
· Enrich participants through connection, relationship, and community
· Expand one’s awareness and ability to build resiliency and promote personal growth
through partnership between horses and humans

Objectives
At the end of a six-week course, participants will:
1. Have an awareness of, and be able to identify the state of their ANS system (autonomic
nervous system)
2. Be able to apply three breathing/grounding exercises
3. Be able to connect with, catch, and halter a horse, utilizing proximity responses
4. Be able to safely lead a horse, with the horse’s consent and agreement
5. Be able to safely tie and groom a horse while accurately reading, honoring, and
appropriately responding to the horse’s body language
6. Be able to safely work in partnership with a horse, utilizing shared leadership skills
7. Be able to properly saddle and bridle a horse, as well as master beginning level riding
skills
8. Be able to communicate effectively with other team members
9. Be able to communicate effectively with the public, and develop mutually beneficial
relationships within community
10. Be able to make & keep commitments that require one to be physically and mentally present and engaged. Hands-on experiences will impart vital skills and know-how!

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