About a year ago, Deb Rankin decided to combine her love of horses and children and make a dramatic career change. She'd been working as a dealer at the Point Edward casino but had been thinking of getting involved in some kind of work with troubled children and teens. "There are so many kids out there with problems," says the 45-year-old mother of two grown girls. "I voluntarily helped a number of them over the years and I always had a goal, a dream, to do more."
Having grown up on a farm just outside Sarnia, Rankin rode horses as a girl and has lived on a farm near Brigden with her husband Mark for more than 25 years. When a friend from out west told her about a program taught at Cartier Farms in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan that trains facilitators for equine assisted learning, she began seriously considering the two-month program.
She and friend Sue Swain, who has a farm in West Lorne, decided to take the plunge and temporarily left their families to get trained. "It was a big decision but I've always known horses have healing powers," Rankin said. "When I'm in a bad mood, I can go to the barn and come away an hour later feeling better."
Horses have an uncanny ability to sense the mood of the people handling them, she said. "They have a unique energy and they understand body language. Grooming and petting them creates a connection. "I can see a kid's mood reflected in how the horse is reacting. I can tell what a child feels when they are with a horse."
Rankin and Swain returned home as certified equine assisted facilitators and decided to become business partners. They started Lambton Equine Assisted Learning and found a demand for their kind of therapy since day one.
Each 12-week session has had up to 10 kids at a time, ages eight and older. Some have been abused, verbally or sexually, some are autistic, others have been bullied. Some are dealing with their parents' divorce and some have been drawn to drugs or alcohol.
The women are working with children brought to them by parents or through referrals from various social service agencies such as St. Clair Child and Youth or Children's Aid. They offer the program at both farms. In West Lorne, a large number of the kids attend an inhalant addiction centre outside London and have arrived from remote communities in the north.
Some have never seen a horse before, Rankin said. "To some degree, a 1,000 pound horse can be intimidating but that generally creates respect for the animal," she said. "Everyone has curiosity about horses. If a kid isn't participating at first, we'll just leave them to watch and, nine times out of 10, they'll come over and start to do the exercises with us. The horses are too appealing and the exercises are too much fun to just watch."
The 12-week program focuses on values like respect, self-belief and humility. For instance, one exercise is called the blind man's adventure and involves two people and one horse. One person is blindfolded and has to find their horse with instructions from their partner. An exercise like that builds trust, Rankin said. "Every week you see changes in the kids and there's a big change generally around week five. We're all learning while we're having fun."
In addition to the 12-week program, Rankin and Swain are about to start a new boot camp Nov. 7. The idea for the camp was developed at the request of parents whose children finished equine assisted learning but want to continue working with horses. For a half-day every week, the kids will be able to muck out stalls, groom the animals and do some exercises in the Rankin's new arena. Boot camp will be limited to five or six kids so the facilitators have one-on-one time with them.
It's not just for graduates of the 12-step program, Rankin added. "It's for anyone who wants to enjoy the horses or is looking to develop leadership skills." Each session with the horses costs $45.
Rankin's farm is on Oil Springs Line near Mandaumin Road, about a half-hour drive from Sarnia. For more information log onto www.rankinquarterhorses.com and click EAL.
Cathy Dobson
31 October 2009
