ÉALÚ
Equine
Assisted Learning Understanding.
ÉALÚ (Aylu) is the irish word for release, escape or finding a way beyond what holds us.
We chose this word because it invites a deeper question:
What is it that we wish to escape?
The moment one becomes aware of the need to escape - it dissipates.
When we see clearly what is, not what should or shouldn’t be then - something is already released.
Freedom is not found in moving away from life, but in meeting it fully.
ÉALÚ (Aylu) is an invitation to explore through awareness, curiosity, and reflection.
There is much we can learn from a friend who happens to be a horse.
A. Layland
Through relationship with horses, the environment and one another, participants are invited to explore the stories they carry and create space for an untold story to unfold.
Our work takes place alongside horses in a safe and supportive environment where participants are invited to explore their own experiences through awareness, curiosity, and reflection.
ÉALÚ
Our work is informed by a narrative approach that recognises how the stories we carry shape how we see ourselves and our place in the world.
We offer Equine Assisted Learning through story, relationship, observation, and direct experience.
Through reflection, conversation, experiential learning, and engagement with horses and nature, participants are invited to explore the stories they have inherited, the stories they have lived, and the stories they may wish to author moving forward.
We are organisational members of ARCH, Arenas for Change, an international community of practitioners using story-based approaches to learning, development and change.
This membership informs and enriches our practice while allowing us to remain grounded in our own experience, values and way of working.
True unity can only be achieved when there is honesty, trust and understanding.
-Tom dorrance
We may learn through hearing, we may remember through seeing, yet it is often through participation, relationship and direct experience that understanding emerges.
I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
When I do, I understand.
- Confucius
What Happens During a Session?
Every session begins with a meeting, a conversation.
You may arrive with something you would like to explore, a question you are holding, maybe a challenge you are facing, or simply a curiosity about yourself and your relationship with others.
As you begin to speak about something present in your life,
it becomes the story.
You remain the author of that story throughout the session.
The facilitators, the horses, the arena, and the environment become part of that story.
Together we explore what is already present and create space so stories may unfold.
As facilitators, we become part of the story with you.
We listen, observe, and reflect.
The horses, their movements, the environment, and the relationships that emerge may all become characters, locations, and moments within the unfolding story.
At times we may draw attention to something that is already present but has not yet been noticed.
The horses are not there to be ridden, trained, or managed. They are free to be themselves and become part of the learning experience simply by being present.
The horses in the arena, the space between them, and features of the environment such as gates, pathways, or boundaries may all become part of the unfolding story.
Rather than being interpreted or analysed they're simply noticed and unexplored. New perspectives may emerge naturally, allowing maybe an untold story to unfold alongside the one that is already known.
Often it is through speaking, observing, and interacting with what is unfolding around us that something becomes clearer.
Understanding rarely comes from being told, more often understanding emerges through participation, relationship, observation and through being present with what is happening.
In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks -John Muir
Thoughts, expectations, emotions, stories, and judgements may arise.
There is no need to change them or make them different.
The invitation is simply to become aware of what is present.
From that awareness, the participant, the horses, the environment, and the story are free to unfold as they are,
often, understanding begins there.
ÉALÚ is not focused on fixing problems or analysing the past.
Instead, we create space for learning, understanding, and discovery through relationship, observation, and experience in the present moment.
The Horses
True unity and willing communication between man and horse is not something that can be learned.
It has to come from the inside of a person and inside of the horse.
-Tom Dorrance
The horses remain at liberty throughout the session.
They are free to move, interact, rest, observe, and respond naturally within the environment.
Their presence forms part of the shared landscape in which the story unfolds.
Horses are naturally non-judgemental.
They do not ask participants to be different from who they are.
Within this shared space, there is room for reflection, observation, relationship, and understanding.
Horses speak a language that is older than words -Anon
ÉALÚ Meet the Team
The ÉALÚ Team
ÉALÚ sessions are facilitated by a team of people and horses, each bringing their own experience, perspective, and understanding to the process.
Mick Hayes is a conflict resolution specialist.
He has trained and practiced as a mediator and psychotherapist. His lifelong experience working with individuals and groups, both in work
and family settings, informs his role, which is to create a safe, respectful and supportive space where stories can be told,
explored and understood, without judgment.
Kate Hayes brings extensive horse experience, training in Equine Assisted Learning, advanced NLP training under the mentorship of Dick McHugh and lived experience as a neurodivergent adult. Her work is grounded in creativity, curiosity, observation, relationship, and understanding.
“Kate Hayes decision to use her power as a healer through the guidance of three black stallions shows very well how she understands the power of how animals can help us. It proves her desire to work through her client’s full and natural approach. Her strength and bodily approach proves further her knowledge of the human body and its need in any growth process. All the best to her in this endeavour.” -Dick McHugh SJ. PhD.
Merel Zyderlaan brings a lifetime of experience with horses and a deep understanding of the herd. Having known and cared for these horses over many years, she brings unique insight into their personalities, relationships, communication, and wellbeing. Her understanding of self and others is grounded by her relationship with the herd.
Together, the team brings awareness, support, observation, relationship, herd understanding, and respect for the participant as the author of their own story.
Within the session there is no authority over the participant’s story.
The participant remains its author throughout.
The role of the facilitators is to listen, support, observe, and walk alongside as the story unfolds.
An Invitation
Some people come with a clear story they wish to explore.
Others arrive with curiosity and discover the story once they are here.
There is no right way to take part.
There is no need to perform, achieve, or arrive with a solution.
The invitation is simply to come as you are and allow the story,
the horses, and the experience to unfold.
For further information or to arrange a session:
