ABOUT HORSES FOR CAUSES

Situated at the Northern end of the Mornington Peninsula, H4C’s was born out of an obsession for horses and horse welfare, and a lifelong journey of leadership and communication lessons.

Lisa Boyd – Founder and Director, has a health science background and coupled with building a successful business (Seasol International) was exposed to some of the world’s best teachings in Emotional Intelligence/Conscious Communication and Leadership principles. She believes that self-awareness, self-regulation, and conscious communication are the keys to successful relationships. Happiness is not about what you do, it’s about who you are.

Horses for Causes is a not-for-profit organisation. Our purpose is to relieve distress and disadvantage by delivering accessible Equine Assisted Learning programs for people experiencing social, emotional, physical or psychological hardship. Everything we do – and every dollar we receive – goes toward that purpose. No profits or surpluses are ever distributed to any individual.

Quality in conversations ~ quality in relationships ~ quality in life.

As a dedicated Horsemanship home, we place a lot of emphasis on ‘quality relationships’ with the horses. ‘Horsenality’ (horse personality) is a big factor in our training.

All horses are different to train, and not all horse personalities are suited to the ‘jobs’ they are given and the same goes for people, right? Different people respond differently to the same environmental circumstances, but the key is understanding yourself and your conditioned responses. Horses are amazing teachers for us to understand how our personality, energy, attitude, and conditioned responses impact those around us.

Horses for Causes began in 2015 with programs supporting disadvantaged and disengaged young people – and that remains the heart of everything we do today.

Of course, Emotional Intelligence underpins high-level functioning in any organisation, so the same principles of self-awareness, self-regulation, and conscious communication are just as powerful for teams and leaders in business as they are for young people.

Our leadership and team-building programs now play a special role: the surplus they generate directly funds subsidised and fully funded places for young people and community members experiencing hardship. When a business sends a team to spend a day with our horses, not only are they providing their staff with some powerful Leadership lessons, a group of disadvantaged people (who need it most) gets that chance too.

Access to our programs is prioritised through referrals from schools, youth services, community organisations, and health providers – and no one is turned away because of an inability to pay.