Truth is - Horses, like people, get older. And as the horses in my herd aged, I had to face decisions of what to do. What was best for my horses? Certainly, I wanted to preserve the longevity of my loyal, lovable equine partners each of whom continued to willingly give whatever they could give. But it was apparent that they too knew that age had set in; time was not on their side. I would have to find for them a new purpose. But how? And what? My staff and students were so attached to these wonderful, generous horses that re-homing them was just out of the question! Our program had been exclusively designed to teach horsemanship and riding lessons while assessing our students' skills at U.S. Pony Club Rallies and local horse show competitions.

	Student Leadership Drill Team.

In searching for a viable alternative, I became aware of programs that promoted equine-assisted learning. After diligently researching these programs, I discovered what our staff and I, at Spirit Song YEA, considered the best option - E3A's Equine Experiential Education. This program showed us how to partner with the wisdom and experience of my older "schoolmaster" horses, keeping them active with less, physical stress while helping humans identify and master their life challenges, capitalizing on their intrinsic strengths. Implementing the E3A Model has revolutionized our programs at Spirit Song Youth Equestrian Academy, now including both unmounted activities and mounted riding lessons using the E3A Model.

I am frequently asked, "How do you incorporate the E3A approach into a Horsemanship and Riding Lessons program?" First, we found that the E3A approach to learning is easily adaptable to just about any modality in life requiring connection, communication, relationship building, and teamwork; it is most effective when the approach is integrated with horses who instinctively sense, function, and respond in the moment.

Debbie Arledge and Alison Selby, also E3A certified facilitators and members, conduct a game on horseback which includes riding skills.

Following the principles taught in the E3A certification training workshops, at the beginning of the riding lesson, a staff facilitator describes the overall lesson and then, team and individual goals are chosen by the riding students. This pre-briefing is done while the students are warming up their horses. Next, the riding students are given a few minutes to discuss and agree on their execution plan to achieve their chosen goals. During the time the students are riding through their lesson, the staff facilitator uses the E3A 5-Question Model to guide the students thoughtfully through their lesson experience (Discovery and Interpretation), assisting the students to be aware of their horse's response and then to translate that awareness into a different action plan to achieve a different response from their horse the next time. After the riding lesson is completed, the staff facilitator continues using the E3A 5-Question Model in a debriefing session with the riding students that includes a discussion on how what was learned during the riding lesson parallels other events that occur in their lives and what the students will do differently the next time that type of event happens.

4 of our "Out of the Starting Gate" students practicing a salute.

This debriefing is often conducted in the presence of other family members of the students so that each family unit can be aware of and assist in the life changing decisions determined by the students. Typical starter questions the staff facilitator might ask are: "What did you learn about your horse today?" "What did the horse tell you about him or her?" "What did the horse tell you about you?" What did you learn about yourself in this lesson today?" Since the lessons are at least weekly, the staff facilitator can follow up at the beginning of the next riding lesson to see if the life events of the past week occurred and whether the riding students were able to apply what they had learned to get a different result.

We are fortunate in that all of the Spirit Song staff is E3A trained and certified. We are indeed grateful to E3A, its Master Trainers, and other fellow members who have helped us develop the basis for our transformative, mounted lessons. In addition to the mounted program, Spirit Song also has developed an Equine-assisted Life Skills program for the Texas state-sponsored Youth Empowerment Services. An Equine-assisted Vacation Bible School in conjunction with a mounted Drill Team Leadership Camp is in its 8th year.

	Fulfillment of a SSYEA student's goal to learn to ride bareback.

As I stated previously, the E3A approach to learning is easily adaptable to just about any modality in life requiring connection, communication, relationship building, and teamwork; its application is only limited by our own creativity!