Horses form core of emotional intelligence training in Sussex

And the way in which she does that is through using horses as a neutral sounding board.

Natasha, the founder and lead facilitator of Natural with Horses, has ten years experience coaching people to build their emotional intelligence.

She said: “Participants will leave with practical tools that can be used in ever day life and challenging situations. When partnering with horses, you will often find your emotions and issues are reflected or triggered by horse behaviour. This provides a unique learning opportunity to work through blocks safely and clearly.

“Horses provide a non-biased sounding board for you to get to the core of what’s going on and in turn, learn how to process your feelings and take an action to release them. Above all, you will leave equipped with techniques and that will support in many situations beyond horses.”

In her own life Natasha has experienced adversity.

The youngest of five, Natasha was born and raised by a single mum in inner-city Bristol.

She said: “I have been drawn to horses from a very young age, but having been raised in an inner city environment, I didn’t have many opportunities with horses.

“My mum was a single mother and I am the youngest of five sisters so I saved hard so that in the holidays we could go to Wales and go pony trekking. The freedom of exploring the black mountains and seeing the horses graze naturally was incredibly inspiring.”

She left home at 15 and was the first in her family to go to university. With a BA in English and Philosophy, Natasha moved to London to study postgraduate law and later worked for Conde Nast Publications in the fashion magazine industry.

Natasha’s lifelong vision is to make horse wisdom accessible to people from all walks of life, backgrounds and grass roots communities.

Her expertise is supporting female empowerment and mothers. She has an all-inclusive outlook when it comes to horses and she challenges societal, systemic, and racial norms by claiming ‘horses shouldn’t just be for the elite’.

She said: “I worked in London for ten years and researched ways of connecting and learning form horses beyond riding. Horses are so sensitive and such sentient beings that I knew they had so much more to offer.”

Natasha went to Australia and worked on Natural Horsemanship ranches, during this time she also trained in horse whispering and Reiki.

She took on two rescue horses and healed and rehabilitated them.

She said: “They healed me as much as I healed them. It was the first time in my life that I needed to learn how to set safe boundaries and space to form a mutually respectful and safe relationship.”

This lead her to the train as an EponaQuest instructor.

The EponaQuest approach is used to support adults experiencing challenges with: setting and achieving goals, leadership, career, family, relationships, communication, self-trust, mutual respect, healthy boundaries and more. Equine Facilitated Learning helps participants to become emotionally fit in order to live a more empowered and full life.

It can also help children with experiential learning for children and can help to broaden awareness of other people and the interacting world.

Natasha said: “Children are safely guided through a variety of horse activities. They are also encouraged to understand and identify their emotions. With the pressures of the modern world, results can include increased confidence, co-ordination, social awareness, team leadership and self-leadership. Children over the age of ten and teenagers are welcomed. All sessions must be supervised by a parent or legal guardian.”

Based in Ringmer, East Sussex Natural with Horses is a non-profit organisation supporting people to build their emotional intelligence. Their goal within the wellness industry is to normalise emotional health.

She said: “We aim to support people from all walks of life and to encourage diversity and inclusion with horses.

"Sessions and courses suit all comfort levels. Even if you have a fear of horses, I can coach people through to learn safe strategies and body awareness tools. We work at each person’s ability and confidence around horses.

“Anyone can benefit from this transformative work. You can use the emotional intelligence tools beyond horses to support you through everyday life. This includes difficult conversations, giving presentations, public speaking, understanding, and processing emotions and managing vulnerability.”

Sessions begin with creative and theoretical exercises in the teaching room, and then move into a safe space to communicate with horses in the field or round pen. Through a series of appropriately tailored activities, participants are able to deepen their awareness of core feelings and body awareness to heighten their emotional and social intelligence skills.

“Horses transformed my own life. My mission is to support others to succeed with authentic living,” Natasha explained.

For more, visit www.NaturalWithHorses.com