“Sometimes it’s easier to learn from a horse, whose responses are immediate, honest, and nonjudgmental, than in a classroom,” says Robin. “Horses will respond in specific ways when their instructions are clear. That’s when (the students) understand that communicating in a positive way will get better results.”
By providing equine assisted learning, Robin’s organization, Equus Can Educate in Purcellville, rescues both horses and people. It exists to connect the equine world with the general public. By being led through a series of basic tasks, horses teach people to communicate with themselves and with other humans, just by paying attention.
Robin’s background is in education and she grew up owning, riding, and showing horses as a kid on Long Island. She taught in the Loudoun County Public schools for a decade, and wanted to continue teaching in some way after leaving the classroom. Nostalgic for her history with horses, she became certified in equine assisted learning, then added math, science and language arts to her own curriculum. Equus Can Educate’s programs thus focus on helping students of all ages discover their true strengths and abilities.
“What I’m trying to do is close that gap for kids who may benefit from learning a different way,” she says. Loudoun teachers familiar with the program recommend students that they know have the capacity for leadership, but who may act withdrawn or disinterested in learning. The experiential nature of working with horses brings “learning to life,” which both motivates students, and increases their ability to apply what they learn to their roles as students, friends, and family members in real time.
“Sometimes it’s easier to learn from a horse, whose responses are immediate, honest, and nonjudgmental, than in a classroom,” says Robin. “Horses will respond in specific ways when their instructions are clear. That’s when (the students) understand that communicating in a positive way will get better results.”
Her students come once a week for six weeks and emerge with new skills at communicating, confidence, listening, focus, and basically just the framework to build good relationships with other people.
Rescue horses make the perfect teachers in this arena, because they haven’t had their individual personalities trained out of them, Robin believes. Patsy, the dominant mare of Robin’s five horses, had been abandoned and had to survive on her own for a while. Just as she is dominant in her current herd, she’ll often try to dominate people who work with her. “So, she teaches confidence – that’s her gift. It’s neat to see kids go from being pretty timid to be very competent handlers. By the end of the day of working with her, students have learned to set boundaries – to say no, that's not where I was looking to go,” Robin says.
The smallest member of Robin’s team is Poppy the Popstar, a miniature horse who is 24 years old. Poppy leads a pre-school mommy-and-me program where children ages 2 to 5 lead her, dance with her, enjoy story time, and brush her, all while working on physical confidence, social emotional control, and enjoying interacting with their parents, other children, and of course, Poppy.
Equus seeks support in the way of grants and corporate donations for her programs with the Loudoun County Public School system’s elementary and middle schools. Corporations that support the programs can take part in a similar experience for employees to boost their own team-building, camaraderie and confidence. See https://equuscaneducate.org/ for more info.
“Our horses are here to make connections with people,” and those people then go on to build the relationships they need to help them lead and succeed,” Robin says.
