The Power of Trust

Ernest Hemingway once wrote- “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” Yet for quite a few of our clients, trust is a much more complicated dynamic than this. Many people have grown up not trusting others and not trusting themselves. This is often influenced by degrees of trauma and poor experiences. They end up believing that it’s better not to give trust because when you trust someone you will end up getting hurt.

However, even within that context we see powerful examples of trust when people work with the horses. Just this last week we had a young man who was working with Red, our Project Hope horse. Red has a history of trauma and abuse, and he is learning to trust again. The client had already said that he had issues with trust having been let down and deceived by others. 

The client spent time grooming and stroking Red, who stood quietly and calmly. We showed the client how to walk safely behind the horse and then stand in Red’s blind spot- all the time talking to the horse and reassuring him. 

This connection proved to be an emotional one. The client said that he was humbled that the horse should show him trust and have faith in him to do the right thing.  He reflected that he was living life without trust and how isolating this was. And yet, here was an abused horse who is willing to show trust to a stranger. It was a powerful moment of reflection. 

Author George Eliot wrote: “What loneliness is more lonely than distrust?” Distrust isolates us from others and from our best self. It’s gratifying that some time with a horse helped a young man to re-connect with his sense of trust. 

If you want to learn more about equine therapy, please call Annie on 0411 549562 or e mail her on annie@hamerequine.com

You also may like to check out a short video about what we do that ran on TV in early August.