There is more to working in the round pen than just starting horses and more to horses than just riding.

One does not need to be horse “savvy” to benefit from the work in the round pen.

Learn how to take back control of your life – By first learning honesty within yourself - Which then allows honesty with others - Resulting in peace of mind.

To simulate life, we use a round pen to represent the World, whether it is the world of school, work, home of play etc. We bring a horse into the round pen, i.e. the World. The horse represents the person being taught about whatever world that we are bringing them into. As the horse, i.e. the person, learns about the world as we know it, the human becomes more proficient about the world without knowing it.

Through the round pen process humans achieve a better understanding of how they create their own personal stress. The horse becomes a catalyst allowing the human to release stress through the interaction. Participants get continual feedback from their equine partners because horses are a honest mirror which allows the human insight about themselves which normally remains hidden, i.e. bits and pieces of the past that have not been dealt with, but still linger in the subconscious.

To work through these situations and face your fears is very empowering. By combining the sensitivity of horses with that of human emotions, participants gain knowledge in self-awareness, communication, trust and personal relationships.

Once you can learn to be honest with yourself you can be honest with others.

To enter the round pen is asking many people to do something outside their normal comfort zone. This will challenge their usual patterns. They may find that their usual way of leading or communicating is not effective with their equine partners. (e.g. instead of “Do as I say” ask the question “How can I help you?” This will initiate a different response within yourself and will initiate a different reaction from the horse, thus changing what could have been a negative reaction to a positive one, thereby identifying areas which need more work).

Over the centuries horses have played a very important part in the way the world evolved. We used the horse for transport, construction, farming and to go to war. After the industrial revolution the life of the horse changed to mostly one of recreation and we have continued to move further away from “being in touch with nature”. With the help of horses you can experience nature again. There are well documented studies showing how the bond between horses and people can have tremendous healing results for children and adults with physical and learning disabilities.

Now we can go one step further. With the systematic process used in the round pen the horse becomes our teacher. The process can be tailored to enhance your life, by improving the relationship between:

• Yourself
• Horse and Rider
• Personal relationships - parent and children, husband and wife etc.
• Employee and employer
• Nature

Bruce Anderson could be called a horse whisperer. And he certainly is a man who listens to horses. But he prefers to be known as a Horse Gentler. His philosophy of working with horses and people in the round pen has evolved from personal experiences and from the tools he as acquired from other clinicians. While working in the round pen with horses, he learned that the horse is actually the teacher. From the horse you learn that honesty within yourself allows honesty with others.ers, thereby building trust.

Your way of thinking changes from “Do what I tell you!” to “How can I help you?” which improves your listening skills. Because you practice your listening skills, problem solving skills are improved. There are only positives. The only negatives are the ones that you allow. You are able to keep you picture in your mind and not be swayed by outside forces.

Round Pen work helps you build self esteem. You work on your communication skills, thereby improving your patience. You learn to face situations from the past that still haunt you and stop you from reaching your fullest potential. To work on timing and feel, you learn to keep a balance between emotion and logic, finding peace of mind. Once we have found peace of mind, i.e. in touch with ourselves, we can now be more productive at work allowing us to keep up with today’s technology, i.e. computers, etc.

Whether your goal is personal growth, improving relationships or top level competition working with an equine partner in the round pen is a life changing experience.