Catalyst Living Skills
Ruth Cotton is the founder of Catalyst Living Skills, a social enterprise that uses Equine Assisted Learning to teach people life skills such as building confidence, empathy, to regulate their emotions and to work effectively with others.
You’ll find Catalyst Living Skills in Googong, ACT, about 25 minutes from Canberra.
My husband was a phycologist so we had a joint interest in education and behavioral science. We believed that melding the two effectively would enable people with varying issues become better at managing their lives. We under took considerable research and given my passion for horses I began to explore Equine Assisted Learning.
The findings in EAL are not surprising. Many animals are very intelligent and perceptive, particularly horses. They are good at bringing out people’s caring side and keeping them in the moment. As a result people become more open to learning life skills while engaging with the animal.
Then my husband passed away, so I decide to pursue the idea focused purely on the principals of EAL. I enjoy working with people that face challenges such as learning difficulties, or behavioral and intellectual issues. It’s incredibly rewarding.
I have one young girl who came to me when she was six. She was described as autistic, had profound learning issues, anger management problems and so on. Two years later she is a normal eight year old with friends, she’s social, can read and write and is enjoying her life.
It’s all about temperament and trust. The horse acts a barometer reacting subtly to participants’ moods and behaviors. They need to be gentle, intelligent and empathetic. There is an enormous amount of trust involved from the horse’s perspective as a lot of the children have an intellectual disability, autism or behavioral issues.
In EAL the horses are the teachers and I facilitate the learning based on the participants needs.
The program helps participants develop key life skills. It teaches people the skills to confidently make choices, to be mindful, to regulate their emotions and to work effectively with others so they can navigate the world around them.
: I learned to focus on my goal, to set a business plan and how to access the various services I needed to get the business off the ground. My mentor and the colleagues I meet during the program have been incredibly supportive – it really was great.