Because it’s a live sentient being you are dealing with, even just tacking up, means that you need to focus on what you are doing. Whatever problem the child had in his or her day, riding will soon get them to forget it and be fully present in the NOW.
It’s also about teaching students to work with their horse in such a way that it becomes a relationship of cooperation and trust. You are trusting your life with an animal that can weigh over 600kg. As you learn to know horses, you appreciate that he/she trusts you enough to let you climb onto his/her back. Seeing a horse bring out the best in a child that used to be listless and bored with life – children with truly no sense of purpose – is an amazingly rewarding privilege. And that’s why I do what I do. I know that horses have much much more to teach us, than we can ever imagine.