How does Alliance differ from regular horseback riding lessons?
In riding lessons, the focus is on gaining riding skills and a mastery of horsemanship. While we do teach children how to ride and work with horses, our focus at the ranch is somewhat different. We focus on relationship training. In relationship training, we communicate with horses using the language horses know best – the language of the herd, developing a relationship between children and horse rather than focusing on the results of training. When children encounter a problem with a horse we approach it from the standpoint of a life problem, instead of just a horse problem. We may ask the children questions such as “What is the horse telling you? What part do you play in this problem? What can you do differently?” Rather than simply gaining horsemanship skills, children gain broader, more concrete life skills which can be integrated into their lives. Also distinguishing our program from a regular riding program is the fact that all children are required to learn from the ground up. A
