See the chapter on THC

—f—
TheHorseCourse (THC)
by Harriet Laurie
TheHorseCourse is an equine-assisted ‘offending behaviour program’
delivered in prisons in the UK focusing on the most disengaged and
disruptive of violent offenders within the system—those who are usually excluded from behaviour interventions. The project began at HMP
Portland in 2010 and replicated into HMP Oakwood, HMP Verne and
HMP Eastwood Park in 2012, with three further facilitators delivering the
course with their own horses.
There are three strands to TheHorseCourse:
• The specific THC structure and approach;
• Participants learning positive behaviour patterns as a ‘by-product’ of
More than a Mirror, by Shannon Knapp
140
learning Parelli Natural Horsemanship (PNH)
• Instructors treating participants in a similar way to horses, using
non-verbal interactions based on PNH horse-training strategies.
The specific THC structure and approach
TheHorseCourse is a short intense course focusing on fundamental life
skills as detailed in the ‘Star’ (Figure 3.5). The course is delivered using
Parelli-trained horses to provide motivation, feedback and structure. The
Instructor relies on Parelli Natural Horsemanship (PNH) as the context for
the work and is not necessarily a professional therapist or educator. The
course takes place outdoors.
Key features:
• Seven sessions of 2 to 2.5 hours, two participants, 2 horses, over 4-5
days (following Pat Parelli’s advice that it takes 7 repetitions to create
a habit).
• Participants work towards a horsemanship goal of Parelli™ Level
1. In order to achieve the horsemanship goal, they work on the 8
skills outlined in the THC Star. Tasks are guided by the Instructor to
address behaviour problems via horsemanship tasks. The horses provide clear and easily observed feedback which participants cannot
attribute to an interpersonal agenda. Hence shifts are made ‘in the
moment’, in response to difficulties. (Parelli™ horses have the advantage that their natural sensitivity is carefully retained and built upon).
• Participants are awarded a THC Certificate, usually by a Governor
or visiting dignitary. Often they will show off their horsemanship in
front of a small crowd, or teach a horsemanship task to a prison staff
member or visitor during the 8th ‘certificate session’.
• A ten minute ‘audition’ is submitted to Parelli™ USA for external assessment—participants normally receive a Parelli™ Level 1
certificate
• Participants receive a DVD of the assessment, showing themselves
performing successfully with a horse—many share this with family.
• Both the Participants and the Referrer receive a copy of TheHorseCourse Star—showing ‘before and after’ growth in life skills. This is
completed by the Instructor and Participant together in an exit inter141
More than a Mirror, by Shannon Knapp
view, based on observations during the course.
• Feedback from the Instructor outlining challenges and progress
during the course goes to the Referrer after discussion with the
Participant.
Participants learning positive behaviour patterns as a ‘byproduct’ of learning Parelli Natural Horsemanship (PNH)
A key feature of TheHorseCourse is to train participants in horsemanship using PNH-training methods. Participants are unmounted handlers,
learning to communicate with the horses on the ground, to Level 1 of the
Parelli™ programme.
As is widely recognised, PNH places responsibility on the human to
gain mastery not only of technique but of their own emotional and mental controls. In striving for quality in PNH Level 1 tasks (and beyond),
the participants are obliged to practice crucial life skills, including those
detailed in the THC star (Figure 3.5).
Using high level horses allows the instructor to task students at a more
demanding level where appropriate. For the participant it may seem that
the course is all about the horsemanship, but for the instructor it is clear
that the horsemanship is merely a vehicle for teaching life skills.
The role of the instructor is to:
• Ensure safety
• Teach excellent horsemanship
• Enable learners to read the horses’ feedback for themselves
• Set ever-increasing challenges, sufficient to provoke frustration—testing and developing the 8 skills defined by the THC Star
• Coach for improvements in those skills, in the moment, to create
success, providing a learning experience that is based on rehearsal
rather than intellectualisation.
The horses help to engage and motivate participants. They are selected
as much for their daunting and attractive presence as for their training.
The demands of the horsemanship create an immediate and visceral
learning environment where the participant is drawn forcibly into the
‘here and now’, and engaged by the opportunity to work with a horse as
a willing partner to achieve results that both look and feel impressive.
More than a Mirror, by Shannon Knapp
142
SCORING
TheHorseCourse
4
Referral / Outcomes / Feedback Star
3
Name:
Referred by:
Star filled in by:
Independence
(needs little/
no support)
gaining
confidence,
less support
2
trying,
needs
support
1
wants to
make a
change
0
STUCK
Date:
Assertiveness
Able to be calmly
assertive, without
getting aggressive or
upset
Engagement
(Confidence
as a Learner)
Enthusiastically takes on
new challenges, pushes
limits whilst also taking
care of own confidence
Focus &
Perseverance
needs less
support
Works towards goals
despite setbacks
trying to
be assertive
without
aggression
gaining
confidence,
with less
support
trying
to learn
needs less
support
gets
distracted,
needs
support
recognises
problem
blocks
teacher
Communication &
Language
getting
confident
Two way,
respectful, assertive
communcations.
Has language to talk
about thinking and
emotions
gives up
easily
non
starter
ineffectual
OR
refuses /
drops out aggressive
listening well
wants to One way /
& trying to
communicate none
be clear
STUCK
doesn’t
think
poor planning /
unrealistic basis
trying,
with
support
gaining
confidence,
less support
Realistic Analysis
& Planning
Stops to think before
acting, makes a
realistic assessment of
situations and plans
accordingly
overly
blames
others or
situation
Taking
Responsibility
getting
taking some
responsibilities confident
thinking
about it
heartless
OR shut
impulsive/
down
anxious
wants to
make
contact
wants to
noticing
make a
needs of
change
others
trying
strategies,
needs support
gaining
confidence,
less support
Calmness
Taking responsibility
for own thoughts,
emotions and actions
responding
appropriately
sometimes
Relating to
Others / Empathy
Sees the needs of
others, offers care
and support, feels
closely connected
Has the habit
of calmness and
knows how to
create it in difficult
situations
Figure 3.5
TheHorseCourse Star
143
More than a Mirror, by Shannon Knapp
The horses are, crucially, PNH Level 3+, ensuring that their understanding of the PNH patterns and games are sufficiently secure that they will
provide reliable and clear results at all times. A key function of the horse
is to offer feedback in the moment as to whether the participant’s communications are calm, assertive, focused and clear. They reward improvement by offering success since they are trained to respond to subtle
changes in energy and body language in a way that most horses are not.
In striving for perfection in Level 1 tasks, participants have to practice
THC Star skills. Some examples:
• setting and maintaining a strong focus to lead from zone 3 or to play
‘touch it’;
• showing patience and empathy in scary Squeeze Games;
• planning carefully to orchestrate a Fig 8 or a flowing audition;
• finding the difference between assertive and aggressive to get
smooth departures and transitions on a circle;
• finding a genuine neutral (calmness) to achieve the extreme friendly
game;
• dropping to neutral 100’s of times to say ‘yes’ to the horse in all
games;
• taking responsibility for all their communications because the horse
is never wrong.
As Parelli™ people fully appreciate, the horses will give accurate feedback, in the moment. It is honest and unbiased and it seems that people
who have become entirely closed off to feedback from a therapist, educator or probation officer, can still accept the truth from a horse. Part of
the instructor’s job is to empower the participants to read the horse for
themselves. Another part is to prove that a failed task is never the horse’s
fault; we do this by coaching for success and/or demonstrating that, with
appropriate communication, the horse is ready and willing to comply.
The art of the instructor is to set challenges that are at the edges of what
the student can do, allow them to feel anger or frustration just long
enough to be uncomfortable, and then coach a new habit of behaviour
that will bring success. As with training a horse, the instructor must judge
when the participants need consistency to consolidate the learning and
when they are ready to progress. To run this particular course with lower
More than a Mirror, by Shannon Knapp
144
level horses or non-Parelli™ horses would be impossible.
The pressure of aiming for a strong PNH Level 1 audition within 7 sessions keeps sessions highly progressive and creates accountability for the
instructors.
Instructors treating participants in a similar way to horses,
using non-verbal interactions based on PNH horse-training
strategies
TheHorseCourse approach takes PNH methods and asks instructors
to treat participants as if they were horses themselves. Instructors are
trained to read participant body language as the primary source of information and feedback, rather than focusing on verbal interactions with the
participants.
What is critical about TheHorseCourse approach is the extent to which
instructors rely on non-verbal forms of communication throughout the
program—all horsemanship tasks are taught through simulation and
rehearsal, not through verbal explanations or written materials. But more
than that, participants are often moved around like a horse—indeed the
instructor will usually revert to non-verbal interactions to manage or deal
with problem behaviour, rather than get into a discussion. For example, a
well-understood PNH technique such as “let me help you” might be used
on a fidgety participant simply by running the participant around, using
numerous changes in direction, until the body softens and the participant
‘offers’ to be still. What is key is that the instructor’s verbal communications are kept to a minimum, offering simple practical directions based
in the present moment, and avoiding any discussion of personal histories
or psychology. Only at the end of the course is there discussion of past
offending and the impact of new skills learnt on the course.
The purpose and theory underlying this extension of PNH ‘simulations’
is that it allows the instructor to make behaviour modifications directly,
avoiding encounters with the individual’s well-practiced verbal blocks,
distractions and confusions. Using PNH strategies on humans in the
same way as with a horse to alter thoughts and emotions, and therefore
behaviour, through physical interactions seems to create remarkably swift
and solid changes to behavioural habits. In this way, the training seeks to
work ‘under the radar’, engaging centres of the human mind which are
145
More than a Mirror, by Shannon Knapp
often overlooked by verbal methods, but with which, as Parelli™ horsemen, we are highly trained to engage.
Another extension of the PNH-system used in TheHorseCourse is a
modified version of the well-known PNH “Horsenality™” chart. The
modified chart (Figure 3.6) divides the four PNH quadrants further into
behaviours that are dysfunctional (depicted as amber [mid gray] or
red [dark gray]), and functional (depicted as green [light gray]); the
behaviour descriptors are also human-focused rather than horse-focused.
These modifications achieve a couple of goals: first, the new vocabulary
allows the instructor to apply appropriate strategies directly to modify
human behaviours (which flows from the above-noted method of treating
humans as horses); second, it provides for heightened objective measurability in terms of rating outcomes.
This modified chart is used by the instructors for session notes and
to guide course content rather than as a feedback tool to students. It
has also been used as part of an academic study by Dr. Hemingway of
Bournemouth University, UK, to track observable behaviour shifts in
participants.
One principle behind the modified chart is that fully functioning human
beings are able to move to any and all of the ‘green [light gray]’ areas
at will. For instance, to do taxes, a person should be operating at bottom
left; to get the house clean, it might be better to be operating at top right.
Very successful individuals are able to move freely throughout the green
areas of the chart, thus ‘getting themselves in the mood’ appropriate to
the situation or task presenting itself. And overall, the trick is to learn how
to decrease the likelihood of going amber [mid gray] or red [dark gray],
and at the same time have access to a greater repertoire of green [light
gray] states and behaviours.
Findings include statistically significant changes in behaviour whilst in
prison, as well as impressive feedback from staff, participants and observers. Amongst the findings by Dr. Rosie Meek:
• The numeric data is positive: Adjudications post course down 74%,
Negative Entries down 72%, Positive Entries up 168%, drop out rate
nil.
• Qualitative data is also positive: exit interviews consistently report
More than a Mirror, by Shannon Knapp
146
Figure 3.6
TheHorseCourse Observation Chart (Original chart is in color and corresponds to the
grayscale as follows: red = dark gray; amber = mid gray; green = light gray)
147
More than a Mirror, by Shannon Knapp
increased confidence and new skills in self-relaxation. Many participants express the benefit of learning self-efficacy in the moment
rather than attempting to learn through classroom work. … Participants consistently gain observable skills in: Calmness, Attention span,
Planning, Perseverance and Confidence.
• This intervention … seems particularly appropriate for those who
have failed to engage with interventions, learning and activities and
are medium to high risk.
• We would also recommend this course for those with entrenched
aggressive behaviour within the prison.
It is important to acknowledge the extraordinary work of Pat and Linda
Parelli in devising and communicating the PNH programme. It has been
a continuous source of inspiration and information. There is no other
horsemanship programme in the world that demonstrates the elegance,
simplicity and completeness seen in PNH, and I believe it provides concepts that go beyond horsemanship to inform the human condition. I am
extremely grateful for the generosity and goodwill that Linda Parelli and
others within the wider Parelli™ community have shown towards this
experimental work and I sincerely hope the results will be a source of
satisfaction to them.
(See Contributor Biographies to read more about the author.)
—f—
More than a Mirror, by Shannon Knapp
148