Horse therapy workshops in Farmington | Community Spirit

More than 300 health officials gathered in Farmington for a workshop teaching them how horses can be used as therapy for those with mental and behavioral challenges.

Obstacles are used as metaphors for challenges in a person's life and watching horses overcome those obstacles can help realize that challenges can be overcome. This cutting-edge therapy can be used as an alternative or in conjunction with talk therapy for a variety of psychological disorders including ADHD and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"The goal is to learn something about themselves and to change their lives it's effective and powerful to use this through horses," said EAGALA co-founder Lynn Thomas. "What's different about this is that we get to actually do things, you get to experience things going on in your life; things that parallel your life. everything that we do out there in the arena is designed to reflect the issues that you're here to reflect and work on and improve in your life."

International nonprofit group EAGALA organized the workshop and licensed health professionals, horse experts and others were on-hand to learn about how horse therapy can be an effective therapy method.