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Business Plan

Business Plan: Equine Therapeutic Facility for Children and Homeless

Introduction

The business plan is about opening up an “Equine Therapeutic Facility for Children and Homeless”. It will be a facility providing equine assisted therapeutic treatment, known as Equine-assisted psychotherapy, which would provide excellent grooming and nourishing environment for children and homeless individuals, with dedication to maximize the nourishment of customers through providing high-class service, and rendering a clean and enjoyable atmosphere.

Background

Equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) is an approach in which horses are an integral part of the therapeutic process. It is not so much a theoretical orientation as it is an approach that can be used in conjunction with a variety of therapeutic modalities and with diverse client populations. EAP is an experiential approach. Participants learn about themselves through their reactions to another living creature, the horse. Horses are deemed uniquely suited for the task because of their size, power, and apparent sensitivity to human beings (EAGALA Inc., 2004). In individual therapy, the basic format consists of experiential activities involving the horse followed by discussions with the therapist about what the client experienced. For example, the client and therapist may simply talk as one or both groom the horse--a simple task that can serve as an "ice breaker" with less verbal clients, allowing them to safely talk about their problems. In some cases, the horse serves as a safe object for projection of uncomfortable feelings. Thus, a client may say, "He [the horse] is in a bad mood today. He probably had a bad day, with other horses picking on him" or "He looks tired...bet that he didn't get a good sleep last night." These types of comments, of course, open effective lines of communication.

As the equine-person connection deepens, additional opportunities arise to process interpersonal concerns such as self-concept, respect, boundaries, assertiveness, and trust. When EAP involves more than one person, as in couples, family, or group psychotherapy, participants interact not only with the horse but also with each other. Through activities that require cooperation, creative thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills, clients often realize the need to think "outside the box" and find new ways of relating to each other.

Basic EAP activities are outlined in various publications (Kersten & Thomas, 2000, 2004): getting the horse to go through a maze or over an obstacle, or simply observing the herd and noticing the interaction among the various horses. Although this basic format (experiential activity followed by processing) typically remains the same, the approach allows the clinician and the equine professional much flexibility in modifying the exercises or creating new ones depending on the treatment goals.

Benefits of EAP

The several distinct benefits of EAP are found by many researchers, it include: the induced sense of well-being from being in nature, the stimulation of fear (from powerful memories of being back on the frontline), feelings of acceptance by the community of fellow group members, an increased awareness of feelings of grief, the present orientation required to being with horses (which is much different from the ...