T H E P A T H O F T H E H O R S E / / I S S U E  1   / / A U T U M N   2 0 1 9

THE PATH NEWS

A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTORSIt’s difficult to believe it is time for us

again to be writing our Autumn

newsletter. We’ve had such an incredibly

busy time at Path of the Horse over the

last six months or so, that if we didn’t get

this underway, it would be a Winter

edition before we knew it.

We stated in our first newsletter, 12

months ago, that our vision was to

“connect with and assist many more

people from all walks of life” by offering a

method of learning about self and others,

and developing life skills by working with

an equine partner - we are proud to say

that that each and every week, we are

living our vision.   We are truly blessed to

witness the improvement in the mental

health of people aged from 6 through to

76 - importantly, the improvement we 

see is not our doing, each and every

person is responsible for their own leaps

and bounds, we are just the facilitators!

Our ‘one on one’ client visitation has

increased. In this space our key focus

remains with our veterans and first

responders. Our work with children, and

more often than not their families as

well, has grown beyond our expectations

- most weekends are filled with sessions

that we look forward to and enjoy so

much.

From a ‘group work’ perspective we have

had some terrific experiences which

leave us in awe of how open to the

experience people are willing to be and

the personal honesty that is willingly

shared.

IN THIS ISSUEA message from the Directors

Welcoming you as you are

A message from one of our Veterans

Thank you to our Valued Sponsors

Meet our Horses

Badger

The Art of the Horse

www.pathofthehorse.com.au

MESSAGE CONTINUEDWe regularly look after families referred to us by Legacy

and Soldier On. Last September we had a wonderful

weekend with our friend and supporter Mel Jorgensen

supporting her ‘Laps for Lachy’ Youth Program. During

November we held a pilot program, with four veterans

attending our ‘Horse Wisdom*’ course over a four week

period. This program was funded by the Count Charitable

Foundation and we are so grateful for their continued

support and belief in what we do.

In December, a weekend retreat was enjoyed by a group

from Active RSL, closely followed by family day events for

Soldier On members. Amongst all of that - another very

successful Open Day was held, this time in glorious

sunshine!

In February we hosted a three day ‘Trauma to

Transformation Program’ - attended by 14 clients and

equine therapy practitioners (and we are honest enough

to admit as practitioners we too are clients!) - we actually

have no words that can explain how moving and

inspirational that weekend was. We thank Rob Plisken for

his facilitation work, but more importantly we thank the

attendees for throwing themselves into the weekend,

participating wholeheartedly in all of the activities,

sharing their past and present experiences and future

dreams and goals. Vitally, each and every member of the

group ensured they supported the other every step of the

way throughout the weekend. Such was the success of

this retreat, we are already planning the next one. Please

contact us if you would like to register your interest.

Of course none of the above could have been

accomplished without our beautiful and talented herd. It

seems that each and every one of our herd was brought

into this world to be a healer. We never know what each

horse will bring, who will choose to work with us as co-

facilitators, and what relationships will form between our

clients and our horses. As facilitators our own feelings

and emotions are continually brought to the surface as

we observe what is possible between us, our client and

our horses.

Other than ‘It’s Magic’ it is hard to explain what unfolds at

The Path of the Horse, the only thing we do know is that it

will turn out well.

If you feel you would like to understand more about this

‘Magic’ before making an appointment, we recommend

listening to a recent interview, where Dean talks with

Wayne Schwass via his “Puka Up” podcast. This podcast

can be accessed via

https//:www.podcastone.com/PukaUp

If you are curious, or know someone who would benefit

from the work we do, please visit our website;

www.pathofthehorse.com.au, or call Dean or Karyn. In

the meantime, we’ll go back and do a rain dance, as the

water tanks and the dams are sure getting low following a

very dry Summer season.

Dean Mighell

Director / Practitioner

Mobile:  0418 354 362

Karyn Jones

Director / Practitioner

Mobile:  0408 584 098

Jane Lincoln

Director

WELCOMING YOU AS YOU AREAt the Path of the Horse, we honour everyone’s feelings

and emotions that may arise during therapy sessions. Our

philosophy is ‘We welcome you as you are’ - we do not

judge, for us, feelings are information. But how does our

philosophy unfold during our therapy sessions as we

work with people and our equine companions? Let us try

to explain……

We are often asked questions along the lines of:

Do horses have feelings?

Do they show emotion?

Are they intelligent?

What is their memory like?

Horses do have the ability to experience feelings such as

fear, anger, sadness and happiness. It is thought however

that they don’t have the ability to express the emotions

that follow those feelings – emotions such as shame,

guilt, embarrassment, respect, satisfaction – these are the

emotions that humans run the gamut of every day.

Humans have the ability to reason why we feel a

particular way - horses experience feelings; but without

reasoning – which no doubt explains their ability to live in

the here and the now.

This doesn’t mean horses are not intelligent. For example,

there are many studies that show the horse as having a

highly effective memory, they are able to recall past

experiences and react or respond to them. Let’s take the

feeling of fear as an example. Being a prey animal, fear is

ingrained, being fearful is what has kept horses alive as a

species for thousands of years - safe from bears,

wolves and sabre tooth tigers! The horse as a species

would not be with us today without possessing the ability

to feel fear. Fear for horses is quickly remembered and

never forgotten, we should never invoke a fear response

when we are with our horses in a therapy or training

situation.

Horses express their fear on a regular basis. Their feeling

of fear is expressed through a physical reaction – maybe

running away, or ‘misbehaving’, (which incidentally is a

human expression describing a horse – it’s more likely to

be a result of us not realising what the horse is 

understanding). So if they can feel fear, of course they

can have other feelings. Healthy horses who live in a

safe environment also express feelings towards each

other through demonstrable emotions - joy through

play, curiosity through discovery, and trust through

mutual grooming.

So is there a connection between horses and humans

when it comes to feelings and emotions?

Well, humans are much more complex. But, as we are

two sentient beings we can relate to each other, and

learn from each other. As a species, humans welcome

the good feelings and the emotions that follow, whilst

fighting back those that are too much to handle. It can

be easy for us to get caught in a loop when it comes to

our emotions, and this can cause us to resist them. Over

time though, resisting emotions can cause them to

simmer and intensify - our experiences throughout life

can create a barrier to being able to live in the here and

now. However, if we are willing to learn how to not over

think our feelings, welcome our emotions without

judging them as good or bad, sit with them and

experience them for what they are, we can be more free

and less trapped, more balanced and less uncertain,

more resilient and less helpless. We can disrupt the loop

and change our patterns - we can become more

empowered.

A MESSAGE FROM ONE OF OUR VETERANSI recommend the benefits and effectiveness of the

therapy conducted at Path of the Horse, which has

provided the conduit and tools for practical management

strategies of PTSD-associative symptoms;  and

correlatively, a personal enrichment and expansion of life

quality and functioning capabilities.

I have attended weekly equine assisted therapy appoints

for approx. 8 months and my personal improvement is

tangible, real and well beyond what I ever imagined or

expected to be possible.

I would especially recommend Path of the Horse to other

veterans/first responders suffering from PTSD – Dean

Mighell’s unique approach is appropriately enhanced

through his experiential knowledge of military service in

the Army, and the peaceful venue of the property locale

provides the ideal safe and relaxed forum to gently ease

into things.

Lisa

Veteran suffering from PTSD

And this is where the horses step in. Our herd will

welcome you as you are – they are nonverbal,

therefore non judgemental, they respect honesty, and

will just ‘be’ with you while you process any

feelings or emotions that may arise during your time

with them. And this is just the start - horses can

model for you a new way of ‘being’ in the here and now,

but it takes practice. By committing to

spending time at Path of the Horse with the herd,

together with Dean and Karyn you can look

forward to creating a new loop. None of us can can

completely avoid the ups and downs of life, but

we can learn to manage how we process the resulting

feeling and emotions, therefore enabling us to

respond to our challenges rather than react.

FOR SESSION INFORMATION AND PRICES, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE ATWWW.PATHOFTHEHORSE.COM.AU

CONTINUED....

THANK YOU TO OUR VALUED SPONSORSThe Path of the Horse  simply wouldn’t happen without

sponsorship.  We would like to thank all our sponsors who

have donated valuable funds.  If you have a need for the

following services, please contact our sponsors.

DAYLESFORD RSL

The RSL was founded in 1916 to provide comradeship and

support to Australia’s veterans and their families.  The

Daylesford RSL is open Monday to Sunday from 12pm to

7pm.  

PITCHER PARTNERS - MELBOURNE

Pitcher Partners are a major Melbourne Accounting,

Advising and Auditor firm providing a broad range of

services across accounting and business advisory,

consulting and wealth management.  

COUNT CHARITABLE FOUNDATION (CCF)

Count is one of Australia’s largest networks of

accountant-based professional financial advisers with

almost 300 accounting firms nationwide.  Count is

recognised as a leader in the financial planning

community.

MAXCAP GROUP

The MaxCap Group is a market leader in the highly

specialised area of commercial real estate debt and

investment.

TRENTHAM & DISTRICTS COMMUNITY BANK

The Bendigo Bank in Trentham is a great community

asset providing face to face banking services to

individuals, support for small business as well as large

enterprises.  

KYNETON DISTRICT TRAIL RIDERS

The Kyneton and District Trail Riders Club meets on the

last Sunday of every month to participate in a fun and

well organised day out.  Find KDTRC on Facebook – new

members welcome!

PERPETUAL LIMITED

Across three businesses, Perpetual Investments,

Perpetual Private and Perpetual Corporate Trust,

Perpetual strives to grow clients’ wealth without losing

sight of the most important aspect of investing –

preserving client capital.

TPI VICTORIA INC.

(the Totally & Permanently Incapacitated Ex-Servicemen

& Women's Association of Victoria Inc.) was formed in

1926 and has a long and proud history of providing

Welfare, Advocacy, Benefits, & Concessions along with

supporting its members, their families, dependents and

the broader veteran community over the past 90 years.

As a Registered Charity we always appreciate help with

looking after our horses.  It costs approximately $3000 per

annum to take of a horse, with feed and supplements, vet

and dental checks, hoof care, rugs and other equipment.

Sponsoring a horse helps us provide the support to the

people who come to us – we have never turned away

anyone irrespective of their capacity to pay.

The support of our sponsors makes a massive difference.

 Our Charity holds Deductible Gift Recipient status. 

SPONSOR A HORSEMEET OUR HORSES

Badger Bundy

Grace Jessie

Montana & Belle Ben

Tex Rocky

Trigger George

BADGERBadger is our ‘Master of Calm’. Badger models ‘going to

calm’ like no other, his outbreaths are deep and loud, and

quite often start a symphony effect throughout the herd.

As a person in his company it’s hard not to model his

ways. When at peace his head is down, and his eyes are

soft.

Badger is the leader of the herd, and he looks after his

team of 13 in a firm and fair way. He keeps them off the

fences in times of panic, and brings them all back to living

in the ‘hear and now’ once any perceived danger has

passed.

Badger is also notorious for loving a camera, and always

has his best side on show!

Cruise Bear

In March, we were blessed to host a watercolour

workshop with the wonderfully talented Sandi Lear.

Something a little different for us at Path of the Horse and

we welcomed the weekend with enthusiasm and

creativity.

Our participants engaged with Sandi, creating

masterpieces of watercolour that brought feelings of

happiness and accomplishment.

Sandi volunteered her time and all proceeds from the

event, were donated back to Path of the Horse.

We thank our participants and Sandi, whole heartedly for

such an amazing weekend.

THE ART OF THE HORSE