HOrses HeLPinG HUMAns
E q u i n e F a c i l i t a t e d L e a r n i n g i n t h e O j a i Va l l e y By Amelia Simpson “Something beautiful always happens here!” Andrea Gaines says of her Horse, Heart and Connection workshops with an exuberant smile. Winston Churchill said it best when describing our connection with horses: “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” Andrea Gaines spends her time in Ojai making sure as many people as possible experience that important connection. Gaines, an accredited Equine Facilitated Learning teacher, studied with Wyatt Webb, author of It’s Not About the Horse, and
All photos by Mariana Schulze considers him a mentor. Additionally, Gaines uses her history as a life and wellness coach and fitness instructor to bring substance and wisdom to her sessions. Natives of Chicago, Andrea and her husband, George, were initially drawn to Ojai when they attended couples’ workshops hosted by David Deida and Michaela Boehm. The couple fell in love with the town and soon moved west. They enrolled their son in The Thacher School and made Gaines’s lifelong dream of owning and living with horses come true when they purchased their
farm house. Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) exists on a parallel field to the more widely known Equine Therapy. Gaines expands, “Equine Facilitated Learning is a method for achieving personal growth that uses horses on the ground (typically no riding), to help develop the ability to connect and communicate in the subtle, non-verbal realms. This connection often moves the participant to have an epiphany or to delve into their past to unleash blockages, coming to a place of mindfulness and calm which enhances their everyday lives.”
Flash and Red are Andrea’s trusted equine partners. 78
Winter 2019
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