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Thanks to the leadership group from the Calgary Humane Society, we were able to pilot a brand new program idea at Liberty Stables: Horseplay!

It’s a day-long retreat and play day in the beautiful outdoors in the foothills of southwestern Alberta. The highlight? The horses of course! Our team of Horseplay horses showed up ready to play and interact with the folks from the Humane Society. The day started with coffee and yummy morning snacks at the house which is a wonderful venue that overlooks the property. Once a barn, the renovated house has character and a built-in connection to horses! You can see where the stalls used to be and some of the beams the horses had chewed. We talked about the theme for the day which was Self Awareness. The retreat was custom designed to compliment some strategic planning the organization was engaged in. We laid out the concepts of being present, aware and in our bodies in everything we do.

How did the horses fit in? Well, what better way to practice self awareness than to hang out with six beautiful, energetic, individual and amazing creatures to get you in the moment, into your bodies and breathing!

After our conversation and snacks at the house, we walked down to the arena where the horses were waiting. We walked into the barn area to find them all waiting patiently. The feeling I had was one of peacefulness. They weren’t anxious in the least. The humans, on the other hand, were going through all sorts of emotions – anxiety, excitement, fear, anticipation.

We’d put teams of 2 or 3 people together ahead of time. Each person knew which horse they would be interacting with primarily. Picking teams was a great exercise in itself. We sent out photos and a brief description of each of the six horses (see them Programs). The question was, “Which of these horses are you drawn to (use your gut feel or any criteria you choose)?” Amazingly, natural selection occurred in that we had the right number of people interested in each of the six horses. The discussion about what drew people to the various horses was very neat.

We introduced the horses, and people went to meet them. Spike was very interesting. He immediately pinned his ears at his team members. I wondered to myself if maybe it wasn’t a good idea to have him in the program but then I remembered that I needed to trust Spike. He has his own way of communicating and being with people and he was on a mission. So we noticed his reaction, accepted and respected it and carried on.

The horses were taken into the arena and we let them go. The humans proceeded to the end of the arena and stood behind a rope barrier to begin the first stage of our group experience which is observing the horses. They put on quite a show interacting with each other. They are housed together in the same herd and know each other well. However, with all the excitement and being inside together, they had lots to sort out. We had so much fun talking about what we were seeing. And a few of horses took turns coming over to check us out. Meanwhile, we were doing body scans on ourselves and breathing in the experience, talking about what/how we were feeling.

Once the energy calmed a bit, we took turns with one group going out into the herd at a time. The activity was simply to get with their horse physically and otherwise, being aware at all times of the other horses and all the dynamics. Safety first of course. I went with each of the groups while Dessa remained with the larger group of people.

When we do this one-on-one with the horses, we talk about this activity as becoming part of that horse’s herd, or making a herd with that horse. Mirroring the horse is one way to build trust and rapport. The horses typically notice pretty quickly that you are with them.

The things that happened, the experiences each horse presented us with were absolutely priceless! Ulysses, who stands 18+ hands was hilarious! He thought the whole thing was for his benefit. He was in his element. Diva, the only mare, had her hands full managing the dynamics. She taught us the importance of keeping her safe from the other horses while interacting with her. She displayed her expressiveness in high fashion. Sam, the friendly, sometimes shy one loved his time with his people. Sid, a typically shy and highly aloof horse, demonstrated his inner strength and skepticism. Tony, the smallest horse in stature but the biggest horse in personality had so much fun trying to interfere with everyone else’s fun. When it was his turn, he took his people to the far end of the arena and parked them against the wall daring anyone else to come and take them away. He did it in such a clear, determined way! He also showed his “spiritual” side when he went up behind one of the participants who was working with another horse, and just lowered his head quietly. The fellow was completely aware of Tony behind him and reported an amazing sensation of connection.

Last but not least, Spike did what I thought he might do which was to make his people work for his trust. They walked with him and focused on him and kept him safe and gradually, he softened and allowed them to come into his space and just be there with him. Amazing.

We haltered our horses and brushed them, then took them out to be released back into the big herd.

After a wonderful lunch of vegetarian chili and salad, we carried our feelings of being present and self aware into a 2-hour session of brainstorming. It too was amazing.

People left at the end of the day feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.

All in all, it was an amazing day and it was an honor to host such a wonderful group of people and to introduce them to our fabulous team of Horseplay horses. Thank you for the insights, for the laughter, for the authenticity you brought to the whole experience.