A different type of therapy

Rachelle Ramey’s grandfather had a farm with standard bred horses when she was a child, back then she wanted nothing to do with them, “I thought they were stinky, dirty and they were huge,” Ramey said. “I didn’t like them at all.”

Now, Ramey has five. She facilitates an equine assisted learning program on her farm, Musketeer Farm, in Maugerville New Brunswick.

Ramey official started doing equine assisted learning in September of 2018. Ramey noted they she saw the need for something like equine assisted learning in the area.

“When I first started I thought it’d be a great way to use my horseyness because I love working with my horses,” she said.

Ramey offers the sessions all year around, she said that sunny winter days are great days for sessions. She said that it’s different than a regular therapy session.

“It’s just a wonderful way of doing experiential learning, so you’re learning through your own experience,” she said.

Her clients range from teenagers to war veterans. They also range from those who have some horse experience to those that have none at all.

Clients are given tasks, and prompted with questions by Ramey throughout the session. Sessions can last anywhere from 10 minutes, to over an hour. Depending on the client, the task their given, and the horse.

Ramey uses her horses, Cody, Ziggy, Java, Riley and Jasper in her sessions. With their different and unique personalities they connect with different clients on different levels.

“They calm your central nervous system by taking in all that stimulus you may have,” she said. “So their calm, and you become calm.”