ALA Horsemanship Boarding School Program

Abundant Life Academy is very excited to announce our new Horsemanship Program. We believe a student’s direct interaction with taking care of a horse is a powerful way to “experientially” put into play the leadership curriculum taught at Abundant Life Academy Christian Boarding School. We maximize the interaction with horses with ALA’s leadership philosophies, which we refer to as “experiential learning”.

Animal Husbandry is founded on the principle that, through working with animals (in this case horses), troubled boys and girls can learn certain life skills that can be used as catalyst for a heart change. All aspects of horses and horsemanship are used in the ALA horsemanship program. Horsemanship skills (the proper care of a horse) are integrated with team building, experiential learning, and leadership activities to create a unique program with endless possibilities. The lessons our students learn from the horses will improve their interactions and behaviors with all people. The skills students learn in ALA horsemanship become powerful life skills, not just horse skills.

We can all acknowledge that horses hold a special place in our hearts. Simply put, kids love horses, especially girls. Horses have a natural healing power that has been proven effective in physical, mental, and emotional growth. We hope to see deep heart changes in our students just by spending quality time caring for a horse. We believe that by building a special care-taking relationship with a horse, troubled teens will learn all about themselves, about others, and how to build successful relationships.

Besides the innate power and healing energy that horses possess, interacting with them has other logical benefits. Horses are big, often intimidating animals. Because of this, interacting with a horse immediately challenges issues of fear and confidence in students. Horses are also incredibly responsive to human emotion and action. Horses will immediately sense and respond to a student's negative emotions and behaviors. The horse, then, often acts as a mirror to the student. For example, a frustrated student (selfish or self-centered) can quickly cause her horse to become equally frustrated. This forces students to be accountable for their emotions, and to recognize the effects that their emotions and behaviors can have on others.

Another advantage of the horses is their honesty. Unlike humans, horses have no hidden agenda or conflicting feelings. Horses, therefore, never lie and do not hesitate to truthfully tell the student "how it is." Horses also do not respond positively to the faulty forms of communication (such as manipulation, bullying, or passive/aggressive behavior) that students are accustomed to using. To successfully work with a horse, controlled and effective body language is essential, forcing students to be aware of their methods of communication and to be able to problem solve when these methods aren't producing the desired positive response.

Go to Page 2 of our Horsemanship Program Description