The Power of Pressure and Release
You’ll hear me talk a lot about pressure and release when it comes to working with horses. It’s a method often used by horse trainers that relies on the horse's natural instincts to seek comfort and avoid discomfort.
But how does it apply to equine assisted therapy and our mental health?
In natural horsemanship, pressure is seen as any request or cue asking the horse to do something, such moving and stopping. Whereas release is the moment you remove the pressure which teaches horses they made the right choice (often viewed as a reward).
In EAT, pressure and release is an emotional parallel to help us explore and reflect on how we respond to pressures and ways to achieve a release. A great example of this is when we ask a horse to do something, like taking a step back—we release that pressure once they take a step. That release is the reward, and that’s how horses learn- not from the pressure, but from the timing of the release. However if they don’t respond to our request, we need to moderate our interactions by becoming aware of our verbal and non-verbal communication and energy.
Similar to real life, we need to think about how we respond to pressure:
How do you react when someone pushes you too hard?
When do you know it’s time to back off or let go of something?
Do we need to take a gentler or even firmer approach?
Do we need to be more clear and consistent with our messaging or requests?
Horses communicate mostly through body language, and notice the smallest shifts in energy, space, and movement. Through horse-based experiences we develop better awareness of pressures, as well as the desired releases that can come with improved boundaries, letting go, adjusting expectations and releasing the need to control things outside of our direct influence.
Horses have so much they can teach us. As you interact with the horse, you learn to observe and respond to them, which can improve our self-awareness. The lessons we learn from horses are transferable to our human relationships in everyday life.
If you’re interested in learning more, please reach out today!
