Customer Reviews

Riding into Your Mythic Life: Transformational Adventures with the Horse

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This new book is a must read for every professional in the equine facilitated mental health profession. Broersma offers excellent, explicit exercises for therapists. She skillfully wraps these in a narrative of the hero's journey. Every horse lover will understand and enjoy the human-horse connections spelled out in the book. Every literature student will enjoy the explanation of mythological implications in our everyday life. Riding Into Your Mythic Life is a groundbreaking study into the new and exciting world of equine facilitated mental health by Patricia Broersma, a leader in the field. Kathryn King Johnson, C.O.O, Medicine Horse Program, Boulder, Colorado.

I would recommend this new book by Patricia Broersma to anyone who has an appreciation for horses and a desire to befriend themselves at a deeper level.
If, in addition, you happen to own or have access to a horse, this therapeudic riding instructor can lead you into a profoundly deep relationship, heightening your sensitivity to your horse and teaching you new ways to communicate and learn from each interaction. Reading this book, I felt I was being gently guided on an experiential journey through my own life, discovering it from a much larger perspective and learning how to appreciate the magic and wonder of it. With Broersma's guidance, I found it easy and very empowering to see the events of my life in the framework of a personal mythic journey, as the great adventure it is. What a gift!

I've always felt a deep connection with horses, even during the times in my life when none lived with me. 'Riding into Your Mythic Life' takes its readers on a hero's journey to explore that connection. I love the blend of myth, science, poetry and personal stories. It seems that if you open your heart and let in the message that Broersma and the horses have to share, it could truly change your life. I keep this book on the kitchen table and read it with my morning coffee. I am finding that I go back to it and reread chapters after working with my horses.

Horses are here defined as mythic creatures, and RIDING INTO YOUR MYTHIC LIFE comes from a therapeutic riding instructor who has developed her theories in over twenty years of working with horses and children with special needs, developing horse camps for teens and adults alike. RIDING INTO YOUR MYTHIC LIFE is for horse enthusiasts and therapists alike, and will appeal to any collection strong in new age theory or equestrian interests.

This book starts fairly well and has some good ideas about making use of the philosophy that the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man (person). But I found that the book strayed very far away from horses. It was more a book about mindfulness and new age-y-ness ideas that sometimes drew on the use of horses. Large sections of the book passed with little or no mention of horses. One section involved turtles. If you run a riding program for emotionally challenged teens, this book does have some good suggestions for helpful activities. If you are looking for a book on how horses can improve your inner life, I suggest you look elsewhere -- one good contender is the just released What Horses Do For Us, by Wendy Jago. I found it to be much more meaningful and much more focused on horses.

This book was interesting . I just felt it got a little to unatached in the mythic life areas. Great to have some ideas for session time. This book took helping people to a different level. The sharing of the different tribes beliefs was fascinating. A lot of Mythology history shared from a new perspective.If you want a book grounded in reality for EAP work this is probably not what you are looking for, but if you are looking to make your EAP program more creative this book has that. The title is what this book is all about.

This book is an excellent resource for both personal growth and helping others to expand their awareness as well. It provides simple yet profound exercises that were fun and provocative. I think this book is especially helpful to anyone involved with Equine Facilitated Therapy