Pony Paddock

Taking the Reins: Self-awareness🐴✨️

In this final week of the series, we’re highlighting self-awareness. Participants shared how their horses helped them identify their strengths and weaknesses. They shared a positive mindset when describing their weaknesses as “something to work on” rather than flaws. They also reflected on how their horses helped them grow from their weaknesses and build on their strengths.

Check out their reflections below to hear about self-awareness in their own words!

Photo 1: “Me slowly tacking up Roomie.”

Photo 2: “My trainer was helping me practice balancing without stirrups. I’m good at cantering, but I need to keep my heels down.”

Photo 3: “Me and Dale rocking the dressage ring.”

Photo 4: “Kirby and I at a dressage show in April, about to begin a test.”

Photo 5: “Barry and I were going over a couple of jumps after we had a fall a couple days before, you can see me tense up in the middle of the jumps.”

Thanks for reading and sharing this series each week! I’m so grateful to everyone who has liked, commented, and helped spread the word. A special thank you to the participants for sharing their creativity and experiences, and to Molly for making this study possible. I’ve really appreciated the opportunity to take over the account and highlight this work. 💙🧡🐊

If you have any questions about this research or want to learn more, feel free to reach out!

PI: Caitlin Lunzmann

Hi everyone! I’m Caitlin Lunzmann, an anthrozoologist at the University of Florida studying how youth horse experiences help shape leadership development.🐊

Over the next few weeks, I’m excited to be taking over Pony Paddock’s social media to share a special research project called “Taking the Reins.” This participatory arts-based project invited youth to capture photos and videos showing how interacting with horses helped them develop leadership skills, social skills, and emotional intelligence. Each post pairs their images with their own reflections on what they’ve learned.

Each week, we’ll highlight a different skill youth are building through their experiences with horses. Stay tuned — I can’t wait to share their stories with you! 🐴✨️