Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE

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Horses for Hope program

Students from the Certificate II in Agriculture recently participated in a program called Horses for Hope for disadvantaged young people.

The program is inspired by the work of Monty Roberts and is designed especially for "at risk" and disadvantaged youth to develop self esteem, self determination and skills in communication and teamwork while working with horses.

The students travelled to the Shepparton Equestrian Centre at Kialla and after getting kitted up, they worked in the arena one-on-one with a horse, talking to it in the non-verbal body language of Equus.

GOTAFE trainer, Belinda Drury, said, "The horses were initially frightened of us as predators and then came to see us as friends and protectors."

"This relied on the students using the correct communication channels and controlling their own emotions and energy levels while around the horses. We certainly had a fantastic result with this group; from the courage shown in patting a real live horse by a very fearful student (who previously could not bring himself to pat Bob the fibreglass horse) to the care, respect and support shown by the whole group that enabled him to do this," said Ms Drury.

"The program also assisted students to display leadership qualities they haven't previously imagined they possessed and the ability to control their own emotions and activity levels."

Ms Drury also said they learnt "respect for themselves and each other and experienced increased self esteem through succeeding in a very difficult task."

"Being able to communicate effectively with a totally different species and recognise what is required to communicate clearly with each other was an important outcome for the students," said Ms Drury. "It has also helped the students find some direction, knowing what they want to do with their lives."