I am a different person when I ride, and just grooming my horse completely dissolves all stress and anxiety. I would be interested in other people's experiences in how their horses affect their moods, their outlooks and who they are - even away from the stable.
Thought I'd include an excerpt from this article...
Dr Kay Trotter has provided clinical evidence that counselling sessions including a horse can be more beneficial than traditional talk therapy.
Dr Trotter compared and contrasted the experiences of youngsters who participated in a 12-week Equine Assisted Counseling (EAC) programme with those who remained in a classroom for traditional counselling.
The results proved decisively that horse therapy gets authentic results in increasing positive behaviours in clients.
"During the study, we let youngsters select a horse to work with, and assigned them specific tasks," she explained.
For instance, each child had to approach a horse, put a halter on the animal, and then lead it to the facilitators.
"If youngsters are going to successfully complete the task, they must immediately change their behaviours to win the horses' trust," said Dr Trotter.
"Behavioral changes that might take weeks of traditional therapy can happen instantly in the arena when children see how the horse responds."