Horse Helps Exec Overcome Stress

Linda Weston’s job is a never ending barrage of questions, and need it now requests.  As a Help Desk Administrator for the Maine State Legislature, Linda has been doing her job for seven years.  Typically, administrator’s last only a few years.  What’s Linda’s secret?  Everyday she comes to work with a weight on her mind.  One Thousand Nine Hundred pounds to be exact.  That’s how much Tim weighs.  Tim is Linda’s horse, a big, black Percheron gelding that came into her life and changed it forever two years ago.

“My position as the Helpdesk Administrator can be very stressful.  Users calling for help, have great pressure on them, and could be holding up the whole Legislative Process – waiting for a document.  Most Helpdesk Staff don't last more then a few years.  I have been doing the Helpdesk since 1999 and I believe I am able to do the job and want to do the job because of Tim.” Says Weston.

While most of us don’t have a 1900 pound horse to help us through our tough days at work, what Linda has described is not unusual.  People across the United States have found their lives transformed after interacting with horses.  Even those who have never had a horse or been exposed to horses.

Wyatt Web, a therapist who founded Equine Experience at Miraval Resort in Catalina, Arizona credits his transformation from boozer and drug addict to therapist and role model, to horses.  In 2003 he wrote about these experiences in his book, “It’s Not About the Horses”.

The horse will simply mirror you," Wyatt emphasizes. "If your communication is confused, if you get frustrated or you're timid, or if you easily lose your focus as leader of the task, the horse instantly reflects what is going on. Once you understand your own strengths and weaknesses, you can then transfer these insights to your human relationships and maybe improve the way you handle different areas of your life."

 Linda Weston echoes the sentiment, stating, “To do my job well while getting Users where they need to go I need to stay calm.  I learned that from Tim.   I think my relationship with Tim has helped me to understand how to interact more effectively and given me greater perceptions when communicating.  I think it helped me act more like the lead horse, knowing /feeling the secret to establishing confidence, responsiveness and attempting playfulness while working - as I do with Tim.  Makes work so much more fun and interesting and rewarding, just as it does when working Tim.”

At a recent birthday party Weston held for Tim, sixty admirers showed up.  Sixty people who have come to know that there is a lot more to Tim than just his size.