KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Healing doesn't always happen in a counselor's office. At HorsePower Experiential Learning Program, it often begins in a barn.
The Kansas City-area nonprofit uses horses as partners in an experiential learning program designed to help at-risk children develop life skills. Participants work alongside them in guided, hands-on activities that encourage communication, trust, problem solving and self-awareness.
HorsePower was founded in 2001 and is one of the Kansas City region's longest-running equine therapy programs. The organization serves young people facing emotional and behavioral challenges, including trauma, anxiety, ADHD and other conditions that can make traditional environments more difficult to navigate.
Program leaders say horses offer immediate, honest feedback, because they respond to a person's emotions and behavior in real time.
As students learn to build relationships with the animals, they also practice important life skills such as setting boundaries, making decisions, regulating emotions, communicating effectively and developing empathy. Those skills are intended to carry beyond the ranch into participants' homes, classrooms and communities.
Those lessons impressed Marck de Lautour of Best Offer KC Homebuyer.
"Horsepower works with troubled youth. It's less about the horses and more about giving these kids the confidence and consistency. I think it's wonderful what they're doing," explained de Lautour.
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