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Part of Patterson Court tackles LGBTQIA inclusivity
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Triple Play Farm and is sustained even as the
enthusiastic dogs wag their way toward a vis-
itor. Among the milieu of barnyard animals
going about their business are Maisy and
Moose, two miniature horses who, at that mo-
ment, are on free roam inside a red barn. Five
considerably larger horses rhythmically chew
away at their evening hay inside the stalls.
Davidson’s campus, about seven minutes
down Concord Road, seems particularly dis-
tant.
A little over a year ago, Triple Play Farms
began its partnership with Davidson’s Coun-
seling Center to offer Equine Facilitated
Psychotherapy (EFP) to students. In a cozy
wood-paneled meeting room attached to the
barn, Trish Murray, Director of Davidson’s
Student Counseling Center, and Kris Batch-
elor, owner and founder of Triple Play Farm,
sat down to describe how horses can play a
role in therapy.
Batchelor, who has been involved with
animal-assistant therapy for over ten years,
described the process as “a team approach.”
Each session involves at minimum an equine
facilitator, a licensed therapist, and a horse;
sessions may be done on an individual basis
or in a group, and in the case of the latter, the
number of horses and equine facilitators may
vary.
EFP, they clarify, is not necessarily about
riding horses, unless doing so furthers the
anxiety, low self esteem, family issues or
recovering from trauma.
“Using horses in therapy hinges on the
concept that they are prey animals, which in-
forms their entire perspective on the world,”
Batchelor said, calling horses, “1000-pound
bio-feedback machines.” Because horses
are innately concerned with their own safe-
ty, they perceive anxiety or nervousness.
In order for a horse to relax and feel safe,
someone participating in EFP learns to be
calm and focused around the horse in order
to establish trust.
through a colleague last January, said she
had never been around horses before that
point.
“I had a fear of horses because of their
sheer size. I had no knowledge other than,
‘This is a big animal that could crush me
like a bug.’”
But Murray vividly remembers the day
that Batchelor invited her into the ring to in-
teract with a horse. Batchelor said she got
a call from her a few days later to say, ‘I’m
still thinking about that.’
The hands-on or experiential component
involved in EFP is one thing that sets it apart
from a talk therapy session, which Murray
said sometimes allows a client’s goals to be
met more quickly.
“Something that might take two months
in a talk therapy session could take two ses-
sions with a horse,” she said.
Savannah Erwin ’14, a psychology major
and recognizable leader on campus as Presi-
dent of Patterson Court Council (PCC) and
Club Sports, participated in an EFP group
session last fall called “Perfectly Imper-
fect.” The four students involved worked
with Murray and two equine facilitators to
focus on how to be okay with not being per-
fect.
“A lot of the social and academic pres-
sures at Davidson are to try your best, look
your best, and do your best, and we are so
afraid to let down our guise of perfection
and admit that something--other than our
workload--is too much to deal with on our
own,” Erwin said. “I’ve struggled with de-
pression for most of my life. But it took me
a really long time to admit that I had depres-
sion and be okay with telling people about
it.”
was sitting at a booth for PCC at a fall ac-
tivities fair, a booth coincidentally located
next to the Counseling Center’s that Murray
was heading.
The group was supposed to meet one
afternoon a week for six weeks, but was
extended to eight. “We wanted to do two
more because we had so much fun, and felt
that there was still more to learn,” Erwin
said.
Batchelor and Murray emphasized each
of a client. In regards to her group’s goals,
Erwin recalled a few particularly interesting
afternoons. For a session focused on com-
bating criticism, one participant had to steer
the horse through a series of obstacles, such
as stepping over poles or leading the horse
acted as a source of verbal criticism and dis-
couragement. The other group members had
In another session, each group member
was assigned a handicap, with two unable
to speak, one wearing earmuffs so as not to
hear, and one who was blindfolded and un-
able to see. Only the member who could not
see was allowed to touch the horse.
“I, as the person who couldn’t speak,
-
cate to the group, including the person who
couldn’t hear,” Erwin said. Tasks included
getting the horse to kick a giant soccer ball,
to step over a jump and to prompt the horse
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to put its foot in tire.
with Erwin. In spite of a lot of strategic at-
tempts at moving the tire and the horse, the
group didn’t manage to complete it.
“We talked about why were weren’t able
to get the horse to put its foot in the tire, how
that made us feel, and that it was okay that
we didn’t get the horse to step in the tire. We
discussed about being able to accept that we
didn’t meet the task, but that we tried our
best and came up with some really creative
ways,” she said.
Erwin found the group aspect of the ex-
perience to be particularly powerful in help-
ing her identify with the struggles of other
students, validating her experiences, and
acting as a source of encouragement. The
group session for the spring semester has fo-
cused on how to manage stress, which Mur-
ray said has been on the rise on Davidson’s
campus.
“We’ve seen about a 25% increase in stu-
dents utilizing our services from this calen-
dar year compared to two years ago,” she
said of the Counseling Center. This statistic
potentially increased awareness of available
resources.
Murray still thinks more students could
students—particularly those already dealing
with stress— are sometimes resistant to set-
ting aside the time to come out to the farm.
of time that Erwin thinks was worth it.
“Despite my busy schedule, it was re-
ally important for me to set aside the time to
take part in this group and do something for
myself. Triple Play Farm is a great venue
for EFP because it is away from campus but
you are with people who understand David-
participate.”
Laura'Chuckray
Editor%Emerita
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