Integrate Senses Through Rhythm with Help from Horses

This is the fourth and last installment in a series I wrote on trauma. The inspiration came from Bessel van der Kolk’s “Four Concrete Steps for Working with Trauma”. Read the first three articles here:                                        http://www.instituteforeap.com/blog.


The fourth step, “Integrate the Senses Through Rhythm”, is extremely powerful and sometimes challenging for a regular talk therapist to do with a client. In Gestalt Equine Assisted Psychotherapy we have many ways to incorporate rhythm into sessions. The obvious one is mounted work which is amazing and definitely healing, and honestly deserves a whole article which I will write soon. But sometimes a client is not ready or willing to ride, and even though we do a lot of mounted work at The Institute, I’d like to speak to other options.
Horses know and appreciate rhythm. It's part of every gait, and even a horse swatting flies out in the pasture will move his tail with rhythm. When we work with horses, whether it is grooming, or lunging them, keeping a steady rhythm, is speaking their language. 
One way to create this experience for a client could be doing groundwork. After the client establishes contact with her equine partner, she could work on teaching or asking the horse to disengage his hindquarters using rhythm. This could be done with swinging a rope or tapping his hind with a dressage whip. You’ll notice that most client’s will be challenged by keeping a steady rhythm and you may need to support them in this. You can suggest using other body parts to help stay consistent, like tapping a foot, or counting out loud. If possible, adding music to this can be helpful and also add a fun element. 
"Put one organism in rhythm with other organisms and is a way of overcoming this frozen sense of separation that traumatized people have with others"- Bessel van der Kolk
​Rhythm is a way to connect, to feel a part of, to become fully aware of how you move and who you are in relation to others. It is the final piece in once again becoming whole. 

For more support or questions, please contact us. We offer webinar and on location trainings as well as supervision and mentoring. 
To learn more about horsemanship and using rhythm to work with your horses, check out Lindsey Partridge (pictured above), winner of the 2015 Thoroughbred Makeover with her beautiful mare Soar. Lindsey has a great webinar training and will also be at Crystal Lake Farm in Maine on August 5th, sign up here. 

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