Welcome to
Gully's Learning Ranch - The School Of Skills
A unique experiential learning program (for both youth and adults) in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, that will lead you down the path of self discovery with the help of some incredible teachers – horses! All of our programs are run through groundwork - we do not ride during our programs and no horse experience is required. We work at eye level with our horse teachers to allow them to communicate with us in a natural state. Humans have so much to learn from these sensitive prey animals. Horses react to the changes of stimulus in their environment - and that includes our energy.
They communicate these changes through body language. Horses' boundaries are distinct and clearly defined - when they react, you will know it right away. This gives the participant the opportunity to reflect on what, within themselves, the horse is reacting to.
What is Equine Assisted Learning?
Equine Assisted Learning is an experiential learning program where your teacher is a horse! A Certified Equine Facilitator is your horse language "translator" who helps you understand your teacher. Guiding the experience, the facilitator parallels the lessons you learn from your teacher to bring out into your every day life! Working as a team, participants are challenged to work through an objectively-driven obstacle course with their horse teachers. Horses are amazing teachers. They are non-judgemental (they do not care if you are short or tall, blonde or brunette), completely forgiving (as long as you are trying our best, they will forgive), they cannot lie (they can only react to the changes in the environment around them), and their response and feedback is immediate (they are honest and authentic with showing you how they feel or what they are thinking). Close interaction with horses is a safe, engaging, and rewarding learning environment.
What is Experiential Learning?
Experiential training ensures that the skills development is both fun and memorable. Experiential learning is "learning by doing" - and is the oldest form of learning. Your team will have the opportunity to work hands-on in an environment where all learning styles and senses are stimulated, to allow for the transfer of learning. The learning experience does not end with the session, as the facilitators parallel these lessons back to every day life.
What you learn is important - but what you remember is priceless. By creating memories that last, our unique program allows you to fully engage yourself in your own learning, and be able to retain the lessons learned from your horse. We all have different learning styles, but we all learn from our experiences. Experiential learning allows participants to learn their way, and as a team, at the same time. It's a win win!
Why Horses?
There are three main reasons why we work with horses in our programs:
1. Researched: Horses have been researched in many scientific studies - in both their domestic and wild state. Having that scientific knowledge of the horse helps us understand how they communicate, how they interact with their environment, and how they have evolved for survival. Survival and safety are extremely important to the horse.
2. Prey Animals: When working with a prey animal, there are three points of consideration:
a) Nature has given the horse instincts and senses that are highly astute.
b) For survival alone, horses must be constantly aware of their surroundings and be quick to react. They are aware of the slightest changes in their environment/energy around them. They are able to discern between an anxious or aggressive person and a calm or happy person through the small changes in the energy around them.
c) With the ability to sense small changes in the beings around them (including us human beings), they are always aware of the changes in our heart rate. If we are nervous, happy, excited, anxious, etc. while working with horses, they will hear and feel the changes within you.
3. Flight Animals: Horses are flight animals - which not all prey animals are. Being a flight animals means that they are quick to flee in a moments notice at, what they perceive, as danger. However, they have the ability to naturally desensitize themselves. They can tell the difference between a bird flying out of the bush or a cougar jumping out of the bush. When we work with horses, we work with their desensitization ability that nature has given them. But working with a flight animal is extremely rewarding - because they choose to stay with us instead of fleeing!
The School Of Skills
Life Skills Development with Horses
What are life skills? Life skills, at their most basic level, are interpersonal communication skills - social or "soft" skills. Although we may believe that we are proficient with a certain life skill, but until a horse tell us so, there is always room for development and improvement. Each session is centred around an objective, a life skill that will be developed and built upon as the program progresses. Horses and humans have many life skills in common such as effective teamwork, fair leadership, clear intention, creative problem solving, integrity, boundaries, trust, and more.
Herds to horses are like team to humans. Each member of the herd as a job to do towards to common goal - for a horse, the common goal is herd safety. With human teams, we work together to achieve a common goal - whether that goal be a school project, a work assignment, or making the championships, everyone has a task to complete towards the goal. Another similarity between herds and teams, is that both require fair leadership. However, fair leadership does NOT come by dominance; something that has been studied in both herd and human life. Fair leadership comes from appreciating each team members strengths and understanding their weaknesses. Horses seek leadership in order to feel safe. When they do not receive that type of leadership, they will take the leader role. However, being a leader does not mean you have to be the CEO of a company or the Principle of a school. What being a true leader means, is being able to answer the questions, "Where do I want to go?" and "How am I going to get there?" That is the type of leadership a horse is looking for and they will respect, trust, and admire you when you give that to them.
In a horse's world, teamwork is respected and it is expected - everyone has a job to do towards the common goal.
Academic Skills Development with Horses
Our unique academic skills development program, Horse Powered Reading & Math integrates social-emotional learning with academics. Students see and experience reading with their entire mind, body, and emotions by creating parallels to real life for the skills involved in reading and math skills. Often social-emotional issues, ADHD, anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns can get in the way of students learning. Our program can break through those challenges, giving students a chance to learn or reinforce reading and math. In each lesson, issues affecting learning are made visible by identifying obstacles (through the use of toys and props) that get in the way of understanding. As experiential learning focuses on the learning process of the individual, the program allows students to make discoveries and experiment with knowledge first hand. Issues that may be getting in the way of academic and
social-emotional growth are addressed by the facilitator in the moment. This allows students a chance to reflect on what they are experiencing and provides an opportunity to create new patters of learning in a supported environment. All lessons are tailored to individual needs. The content of each lesson varies depending on the skills being addressed. Our program helps students to externalize their reading and math difficulties to explore and practice new skills or solutions in an emotionally safe environment.
Monthly e-Newsletter
Each month, we will be sending out important information regarding upcoming events and programs, interesting information from the world of equine assisted learning and experiential learning experiences, and all things Gully’s Learning Ranch. Including a special COUPON code for each month! Sign up and get our newsletter right to your inbox!
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