When a person suffers a physical injury in a horse-related incident, the human-horse relationship may be fractured. Equine behaviorists and trainers often work with horses that have experienced traumatic events, but they are less prepared to address and support the human side of the experience. In this talk, I will present a series of behavior cases in which the clients contacted me about a horse behavior problem, and later disclosed that they had also been seriously injured in a riding or handling incident. Although their physical injuries had healed, the clients continued to experience emotional distress and loss of self-confidence and trust in their horse, yet they elected to continue working with their horses. In order to encourage owner compliance with the behavior modification plan and engagement in the process, I adjusted the behavior change goals, protocols, and instructions to incorporate strategies for supporting people who have experienced trauma. The approach was drawn from selected articles on working with people who have PTSD, an interview with a trauma recovery counselor, and my practical experiences as an animal behavior consultant.

Sponsor:IAABC Foundation
Speaker(s):Dr Robin Foster

Contact:
 Email: courses@iaabcfoundation.org
 Web: https://iaabcfoundation.org/2023-animal-behavior-conference/