Rhode Island Monthly March 2020 | Page 81

Allen went on to get her certification in Equine Assisted Learning through the Equine Experiential Education Association, or, as she calls it, the E3A. The association’s certification course not only taught her how to be a facilitator, but also helped her establish a business model. HorsePowerment is the first and only of its kind in Rhode Island and there are other examples in Utah, Arizona, Vermont and Texas. In addition to keeping her up to date with the EAL world, Allen’s E3A membership allows her to keep in touch with other such members. “They all have their own piece they focus on,” Allen says, “There’s one down south that focuses on helping firefighters because first responders have to be able to build as a team and work together in stressful situations.” And though her own emphasis had centered on special needs populations, Allen has started to expand her reach. She recently hosted a group of camp counselors who wanted to better connect with their newer, more diverse group of campers, including those with behavioral challenges and those on the autism spectrum. Allen especially wants to work more with corporate teams interested in professional development. “A group of car salesmen reached out because they kept losing customers after the initial meetings,” Allen says. “As it turns out, some of the younger employees were finding that they were spending too much time on their phone and their focus and attention weren’t on the customer, whereas the older sales reps were more personable and had those relationship-building skills. And that all came out with the boys. They weren’t able to establish the connection in the session. So, we took the observations and applied it to the real world: If you’re talking to someone and you’re fidgeting or you don’t look them in the eye or you’re not focused, the person is going to feel like they aren’t valued or worth your time. They’re not going to want to work with you, just like the horses didn’t.” When I joke that her programs might even be good for couples, Allen agrees whole- heartedly. “Yes, it can benefit anyone!” How does it all work? Those interested in booking a HorsePowerment session can sign up directly through their website, horse powerment.net. From there, depending on the type of program (personal development and wellbeing, corporate leadership or youth development, for example) you’re interested in, Allen will ask participants to fill out a sim- ple, confidential questionnaire so she can plan and customize the upcoming session to the individual or group’s needs. She shows me an example of an agenda for a corporate session, which takes up half a workday (“Most like to schedule it in the morning, but we’re flexible,” she says). The agenda kicks off with getting to know the horses, and then leads into a sit-down review of what the participants can expect that day. The group will go over a summary of the questionnaire results and everyone involved will come up with one to three goals they’d like to achieve through the program (i.e. learning to delegate or building up confidence). She also highlights the importance of horse communications and safety (read: how to avoid startling a horse). Then it’s time for an activity. One example is “Balls in the Air.” In this exercise, five people usually participate, with one person hanging back, taking notes, while the other four interact with the horse. Two stand at the front to lead while the other two stand on either side and hold three grapefruit- sized balls (labelled with team goals) each against the horse’s flanks. Together, the four must successfully navigate a winding obstacle RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MARCH 2020     73