BY LORNE ECKERSLEY
Advance staff
Since Tracy Anton first began riding horses at the age of four she has come to understand that humans have much to learn from the animals she has grown to love.
“I’ve always loved horses,” she said, sitting at the kitchen table in her Lister farmhouse. “They have been an important part of my life.”
Now the owner and operator of Manger Changes Equine Centre, Anton is passionate about the positive effects horses have on people.
“I have always had horses and learned so much from these majestic animals,” she said. “I decided to set goals that included my horses and shifted my energies to my passion in helping people overcome obstacles. By working with horses, people learn ‘soft skills’ that they will remember because they work with these incredibly authentic teachers.”
When she did her research several years ago, Anton discovered Equine Assisted Learning and Tamara MacKinnon, who has created the only nationally recognized Equine Assisted Learning Building Block ™ Program in Canada.
“I looked into different types of learning and therapies and I like this one the most because of its structure,” she said. “The programs are designed to be objectively driven and to challenge leadership, articulation, active listening, creativity, communication, body language, teamwork, problem solving and adaptability in a group setting, all enhancing individual growth.”
With a background in project management and having owned two successful companies in Alberta, Anton set about pursuing her interest in a business-like manner. She became a certified facilitator under MacKinnon’s direction and then she and her fiancé began to look for a suitable location to start Tracy’s new enterprise.
“We looked at Vancouver Island and other Kootenay areas, but chose Creston because we wanted someplace warm and inviting. We fell in love with this place when we first saw it.”
The couple made their commitment complete when they took their wedding vows among friends, family and farm animals on the farm last summer.
“As soon as we said ‘I do’ the animals all started making noises!”
Anton has spent the last two winters getting programs organized and ‘doing the business end of it’ and is now ready to share her knowledge and training with others.
Women’s, youth and team-building programs are available, all with the help of her rescue horses, each saved from an unkind fate to do what she genuinely believes to be important work.
Out in the corral, Anton demonstrated a couple of lessons with the help of some neighbors—Tierney Hula and Rosemarie Steinrock. Tierney’s mom, Jackie (a newly certified facilitator), was also on hand.
The first exercise involved each of the “guinea pigs” taking a rein (one long and one short) and standing outside opposing sides of a rectangle outlined with landscape timbers. The pair had to work as a team to guide the horse within the rectangle, getting it to weave through a set of flower-decorated traffic pylons, then turn the horse and have it go back through the same route. It’s more difficult than it sounds, with the humans needing to establish a rapport with the horse and figure out how it responds to verbal and physical prods. They all have to work as a team to succeed.
Anton offers a variety of programs for groups and individuals, each involving a series of lessons. She says participants learn to:
• develop relationships
• accept responsibility and accountability
• overcome barriers to find change
• find opportunity in working together
• realize the benefits associated with effective communication
• and recognize the value of mutual trust, respect and personality, all while having a blast!
For more information about Manger Changes Equine Centre programs, visit www.mangerchanges.com, email info@mangerchanges.com or call 250-428-6781.