Volunteer work in the horse project in Spain

handling the horses

Clare and Chico lovingly care for their seven horses, each with their own trauma from the past.

Full of patience, they rebuild a relationship of trust between horse and human. They use completely non-violent methods - all stimuli that are stressful for the horse are removed. So no pushing, no whipping, no kicking, no pulling on the reins. Each horse is given space to express its own voice again. Experiencing Clare's patient and respectful approach to nonviolent training has made us more sensitive to the power imbalance between horse and human. Being aware of the horse's calming signals made us question our own assumptions about how we think animals should be treated. 

I learned from brushing Ana while she is totally relaxed that the moment she raises her head or shows any kind of signal I should stop so she knows I'm listening and that I'm in tune with her . For me, as a trauma therapist, it's really not that different than when I tune in to my clients.

We also found that cleaning up the fields every day, for example by picking up the horse droppings, was a surprisingly meditative, Zen-like activity.

Leisure activities in Andalusia

We enjoyed the diverse Spanish culture and learned a few Spanish words.

We particularly enjoyed the visit to Ronda - the views are stunning and the churros dipped in chocolate sauce taste amazing!

We also really enjoyed learning from Elli, who took us for a walk and told us about plants that we can eat and plants that are used for medicinal purposes. We'll never look at weed the same way again!

Thank you Clare and Chico for making our time so special.

Report by Magda and Alyssa, 2022