SERVICES
In addition to treks we offer several other services:
LIVERY SERVICE
We offer full livery care at our stables, including:
- Open fields for horses to roam as a herd or individual field if preferred.
- Hay adlib, daily feed, shoeing of front hooves, regular de-worming, access to stable, school, water, tack room, storage are for equipment in barn, parking.
- Our stables, drinking water and fields are poo-picked and cleaned daily by the team.
Price: € 500 per month*
with one month paid in advance when contract is signed.
*Tuition lessons and Dental visits (by a qualified vet) are additional fees.
PTSD THERAPY
We offer equine therapy by simply being around our horses and interacting with them for an hour or a morning of a few hours, whichever suits our clients in need of healing from anxiety, stress, PTSD and various other emotional and psychological needs. We can provide therapy through grooming, walking, stroking, riding, feeding and cleaning out your chosen horse or horses.
Equine Assisted Therapy has a long history, having been applied to physical and mental health since the 1960s. The USA was one of the first to recognize that equine mental health treatment could be used to manage trauma and PTSD, establishing the Sierra Tucson Centre in 1983.
Equine Assisted Therapy stems from the fact that horses are herd animals that live together. They have survived by developing a sophisticated method of communication, which has evolved over thousands of years. When a predator approaches, the herd must decide to 'fight or flight'. Since any sound would alert a predator, horses cannot rely on vocalisation. Instead, they use a silent method to communicate which is very subtle, ranging from a flickering ear, a different stance or subtle body movement. Not only are horses alert to the most subtle changes in each other’s behaviour, but they can process its meaning and react swiftly. Horses can detect tiny energy vibrations through their body movements. This combined with their billions of mirror neurons, used for empathy, makes them ideal animals to interact with humans.
When the horse and human 'energy fields’ interact, they appear to affect each other’s heart rate. Since horses have a very stable heart rhythm, humans frequently feel calmer when they are around these animals.
Our horse therapy focuses on the limbic area of your brain, the part dedicated to emotion and empathy. As humans we engage this area when we feel empathy or emotional resonance with each other. When we 'feel’ a friend’s pain, for example. In fact, we are also able to experience the same emotional resonance when we work with horses. However, because horses have a smaller “thinking” or neo-cortex part of the brain than humans and are more in tune with their emotional brain, we can use this emotional resonance to access, reflect and process our own emotions. This helps us recover self-awareness and insight into our own emotional expressions, such as anger, fear, sadness, grief or joy.
It is often difficult to access these emotional problems or explain them verbally. But once we lose the ability to express our 'true self’ or to connect to our real emotional state, life can feel rigid or stuck. Your blocked emotions will often present themselves as anxiety, depression, lack of energy or panic attacks. However, by 'experiencing’ the emotions through a physical connection with the horse we can reconnect with the causes, process these problems and find new creative solutions to them.
We focus on non-verbal communication, trust, authenticity and respect.
PRICES FOR PTSD THERAPY
Prices are per session and only payable by cash:
| 1.5 hours | € 40 |
| 2 hours | € 80 |
| 2.5 hours | € 90 |
| 3 hours | € 120 |
WEDDING & BIRTHDAY PHOTOGRAPHY SESSIONS
We often have wedding bridal couples choosing to have photographs riding our horses or our horses cantering around them. A spectacular and dramatically unique photographic environment and setting for the utmost sophisticated wedding photographs. Bride and groom dress in their full wedding bridal attire and even book a visit to the hair/makeup salon and florist in preparation for their photos surrounded by our horses.
Bring your own appointed photographer and book a photography session any time of the day or at sunset. Stay for as long as you require until the sun sets. We also provide props such as cowboy hats for the photography sessions. Choose as many horses as you require while our team assists and manages the horses for you.
PRICES FOR PHOTOGRAPHY SESSIONS
Prices are per horse:
| 1.5 hours | € 50 |
| 2 hours | € 80 |
| 2.5 hours | € 100 |
TEAM-BUILDING CORPORATE EVENTS
Maria’s Horse Trekking Corporate events at our stables are private outdoor team building events that have been designed to build higher functioning and higher performing teams. Our equine corporate events can be designed for 5 to 20 participants and can provide activities that will challenge the team and individual spirit and team skills of participants. Team building for any corporation is an important investment. At Maria’s Horse Trekking, we tailor your event course to suit the physical abilities of participants and their preferred level of difficulty while we will accommodate your business objectives and budget.
By participating in our equine day/weekend events, we aim to develop corporate team skills that work together, taking actions and thinking outside of the box and come together as one powerful force. This helps individuals to park their competitiveness, collaborate and communicate more and value each other’s worth and contribution, whilst not forgetting to have a lot of fun and giggles along the way, connecting to our horses!
Occasional Corporate events with a genuine business requirement and objective are more likely to qualify for tax deduction. So, a win, win scenario! So long as your costs align with the norms or prudence and business necessity and show the event has a reasonable expenditure, then you can let us handle the logistics and planning.
At Maria’s Horse Trekking stables, we foster a sense of team and individual accomplishment, boosting team morale, giving something back to nature and animals, whilst taking your team out of their comfort zone of the business/office environment, creating a memorable and enjoyable experience which should enhance and promote your business productivity with a happy team. Team building can help develop positive relationships amongst your employees and our horses are easy to connect with and they will certainly help to build trust and confidence. This will help to promote more open communication amongst your employees and encourage more natural conversations between them in problem solving and discussing ideas. Building trust with our horses is a huge aspect of self-awareness and challenges one’s courage. It is a two-way exchange between your team and our horses, but totally positively rewarding. This will help you identify your team members’ strengths and weaknesses.
Our activities include: riding out on a trek in the mountains, riding in our school, feeding, cleaning, picking out the horses’ hooves, grooming the horses and leading and interacting with the horses in their herd environment.
We provide a beautiful, tranquil and peaceful location in the stunning mountains of Lysos surrounded with pine trees and nature trails. Away from the hustle bustle of city life, just quiet nature. We also provide the catering of food and refreshments to suit your budget from a team BBQ on site to a hotel buffet. We can offer a day or weekend event course with breakfast included, whichever suits your requirements.
Please feel welcome to call our stables to discuss your requirements and ideas for your tailor-made corporate event. We are open all year.
CHILDREN’S BIRTHDAY PARTIES
Maria’s Horse Trekking birthday parties at our stables can accommodate your children’s preferences and your budget. We can cater for parties of 10 children, creating a memorable and enjoyable experience with our gentle ponies and horses.
Our activities include: riding out on a trek in the mountains, riding in our school, feeding, cleaning, picking out the horses’ hooves, grooming the horses and leading and interacting with the horses in their herd environment. We can also provide drawing and painting children’s activities with our qualified art teacher. We can offer a buffet, picnic or BBQ under shade from the sun with drinks provided.
We are located in a beautiful, tranquil and peaceful setting in the stunning mountains of Lysos surrounded with pine trees and quiet nature trails. Please feel welcome to call our stables to discuss your requirements and ideas for your tailor-made corporate event. We are open all year.