In gentle and undemanding company of a horse

I attended a great presentation on the therapeutic benefits of horse therapy as a possible option for individuals on the autism spectrum disorder at Family Space in Belleville yesterday. Suzanne Latchford-Kulker, who owns HEAl, an acronymn for Human Equine Assisted Learning, had her audience of 12 to 13 hanging on to her words as she took us through her story of a seven-year-old child with autism, who until recently had been going to HEAL for therapy. The child's mother who happened to be in the audience wrote the following on her child's experience at HEAL:

Suzanne is certified in Facilitated Equine Experiential Learning (FEEL). She has been riding horses since she was a small child and it was her love for horses, nature and helping others that led her to become certified in FEEL. Her background in the field also includes her experiences at two equine training centres with courses in spirituality, healing and wholeness. She now resides in Hillier, Ontario with her husband and family of two daughters, son, horses, dogs and cat on their beautiful country farm. Suzanne's program HEAL is professionally certified in equine facilitated learning. "We practice experiential learning - "learning by doing" - with reflection from our horses. Our professional staff and horses work as a team to provide long lasting positive change," she noted. According to her, equine facilitated learning is for helping resolve a wide range of problems including behavioural problems, ADD, autism, bullying, self-esteem, substance abuse, addiction, eating disorders, abuse, depression, anxiety, relationship problems, communication, social disorders and post traumatic stress disorders. Each of her sessions can run up to an hour and a half. This allows complete unstructured time for an individual client to take his or her time getting to know the horse while also allowing the horse to be comfortable in his/her presence. HEAL includes tactile activities such as brushing the horse allowing a special sensory experience as well. Check out her website at www.healwithhorses.ca or contact her for details at humanequine@gmail.com