Benefits of Horse Interactions : develop interoception.

Horses are built to feel. For survival, equine brains prioritize immediate action and process of emotion over thought, and do not have a prefrontal cortex for evaluation of emotions or reasoning ability to plan action. Incredibly sensitive to body language, emotions, attention, and even intention, horses are wired to experience emotion and stay attuned to their herd mates for safety. Our human brain however, can evaluate and plan ways to cope with our emotions. Our interoception, or the sense of our internal state, lets us know what we feel, which we then address and regulate. This sense helps us know if our stomach is fluttery, and if it's from being excited or nervous. Our interoception can be dulled as we avoid uncomfortable emotions or ignore signals such as to rest or eat, and we can teach a horse to be helpless with their feelings to be compliant.

An engaged horse will show how they feel, if we learn to notice and recognize the signals. The practice of paying attention to subtle signs to recognize emotions in horses helps people develop awareness of their own feelings. Horses instinctively respond to the emotional state of people, so provide fantastic feedback on our own state of being. Having 17 distinct facial movements of their own, they recognize human facial expressions even in photographs. The equine brain “creates an emotional but non-judgmental animal who mirrors human attitudes. For this reason horses excel at teaching people assertiveness, emotional awareness, and social responsibility” (Jones, J. Horse Brain, Human Brain, 244.)

While horse personality and experiences shape their interest in interacting with us, how a horse responds to us can improve our awareness of our feelings. If a horse is showing stress, are we tense, holding our breath, or thoughts consumed in worries? When a horse doesn't get out of our space, do we think or believe we are powerless? Our ability to identify and connect to our feelings develops as we're curious and compassionate, and horses' non-judgmental experience of emotions provides an effective and fun relationship to experience and explore in.