Summer for program has kids in Foothills County learning from horses

Eunoia Equine Assisted Learning and Wellness is hosting a series of free two day programs at its property southwest of Okotoks. Alex Dunn is one of the co-owners of the operation and says kids can learn a lot from horses.

"Horses are always positive and present," she said. "They don't think about what they did a few minutes ago, or what they're doing in a few minutes time -- so they are great teachers for us to be in the present moment."

Dunn says at the start of the program she has the kids participate in a grounding exercise to calm them down before they get close to the animals.

"Sometimes horses, if a car backfires or there's a loud noise, horses can get a bit silly because they're like, oh, what's that noise," she said. "So the kids watching them know that if they stay calm, then that calmness is going to help the horses so everything we do is intentional and is a life skill."

Dunn says she talks to kids about having big emotions and that it's ok. Then she shows them some strategies on how to release them through exercises like deep belly breathing.

"So often we put a smile on and we're feeling the heavy emotions inside," she said. "But here you can be who you need to be -- you can show there's big, heavy emotions.

"All the kids say after the belly breathing and being with the horse and grooming, they feel so much calmer," she adds, "and you can see it in them -- they are calmer."

'Our minds matter'

Ila Tanna is a wellness coach and out at the ranch to see how the kids interact with the horses during the two day program. She's with the Foothills School Division and part of a program called Minds Matter.

"Because our minds matter," she said. "We go into classrooms during the school year. We teach social emotional learning to kids from kindergarten through grade nine, we teach mental health prevention and promotion and we are funded through Alberta Health Services."

Tanna sees about 500 kids during the school year and says it's important to work with children when they're still impressionable and open to learning things they can use through their entire lives. She says this program at Eunoia is making a difference in young lives.

"It keeps kids connected to nature and we find that nowadays, we're so busy, our minds are full all the time," she said. "We get to come here and practice mindfulness so we get to be present in the situation, present in our bodies and it relaxes our minds and our bodies and we actually get to enjoy life that's happening right now without the full mind."

The two day programs are being offered for free in the community.

"We wrote a grant through Foothills County family and community support service in High River Okotoks, Diamond Valley," said Dunn. "They gave us a grant so we're able to work with over a hundred youngsters this year and we've also got two parenting workshops coming up that are free."

Dunn says similar programs will run in September and October for kids in the local school divisions who've been identifies as needing a little extra support.

Learn more about Eunoia here: www.eeal.ca