It began when I was riding Lucy towards the setting sun...
I told my companion about a vision I had. Of a peaceful partnership between man and horse, without any pressure or coercion. At the time, I had no idea what this could look like, but by expressing it for the first time, I set something in motion in my innermost being. Many years passed before my vision actually took shape.
In 1997, after I had completed my education program as trainer for personal development, I had a moment of extreme clearity. All of a sudden it was revealed to me, now to unite man and horse in a new alliance. How to build a true partnership in which both beings could learn from and with each other. My four-legged companion Bon Jour was my great teacher during this time. In memory of that ride in the sunset, my vision was given the name of my companion's horse: Pegasus. "Das Pegasus Projekt®" was born.
My working methods continued to refine and concretise and took on a new form in 2012. HALE®, pronounced "häil", stands for the initials of Horse-Assisted Liberal Education. For many years, my seminar and training programme was purely horse-assisted. On my small ranch in the middle of nature, a "Garden of Eden" was created in which the world of man, horse and nature was still in order. Somewhat "detached from the world" in order to be able to perceive one's own inner impulses again in the silence of nature, but not "quixotic", because "Horse-assisted Liberal Education" always moves with the pulse of "real life". The experiences and insights gained through encounters with horses can easily be transferred to other areas of life.
In the course of time, influenced by my own inner development, HALE has expanded. "The Pathway of POWER" goes beyond the vision of HALE. It awakens our noble human side. We come into contact with our inner strength, our natural authority and social competence. "The Pathway of POWER" forms a balancing counterbalance to the principle of FORCE, which is based on pressure, coercion and often violence.
Whenever it serves our client's development, horses are still part of our work but also other methods have found their way in. First and foremost, our self-awareness trips in to the wild, which reconnects us with our natural abilities, as well as liberal coaching without horses, which enables a process of clarification and development through reflection and active experience.
The meaning of HALE®, as Horse-Assisted Liberal Education, now expands to the meaning of the English word "hale" in the sense of "healed, healthy". This is what we are dedicated to: the well-being of humans and horses in harmony with nature.
- HALE® is based on the principles of modern psychology, experiential education and coaching. It is also inspired by the teachings of Dr med Dr phil. David R. Hawkins.
- The free interaction with horses is based on the findings of behavioural research and respects the nature and self-determination of the horse. In HALE® horses are treated as of equal value, but not as of equal rank and are not instrumentalised.
HALE® was developed by Susanne E. Schwaiger and is based on more than 25 years of professional experience in horse-assisted liberal education and coaching, as well as over 50 years of experience with horses.
HALE®. Free-spirited, peaceful, partnership-based.
"Looking back, nothing seems so simple than a utopian vision realised." (Wernher Freiherr von Braun - Physicist)