TBH Equine Program

Tulsa Boys' Home Equine Program, under the direction of Scott Averill, Equine Program Manager saverill@tbhinc.org, serves our young men by providing both individual and group sessions throughout each week to help promote the overall mission to provide healing and hope for our boys. Each of our boys participates in equine therapy where Equine Therapist, Johnny Clark, along with Equine Assistant/Horsemanship Instructor, Taylor McClain, facilitate the development of “social intelligence” by using horses in an experiential game format.

The connection made between the boys and the horse creates an opportunity for the young men to see themselves through the eyes of the horse. In this exchange, the boys can translate some of those experiences to enhance their ability to connect in relationships and increase their sense of self-worth, confidence, and hope for the future. Horsemanship Instructor/Trainer facilitates Horsemanship classes in group and individual settings with our boys. These classes are designed to give our boys a better understanding of proper Equitation techniques, thereby improving their ability to ride and enjoy these amazing animals on yet another level.  

Johnny Clark and Shannon Curry, MS worked together over several years to develop Tulsa Boys’ Home’s own equine therapy model called The SPUR Model: An Equine-Facilitated Social Intelligence Approach to Relationship Building. This model was created to engage people in a non-traditional, experiential process of playing games with horses as a way to build social intelligence. The key concepts of perception, behavior, and engagement related to social intelligence, along with the uncanny intuitive abilities of the horse are combined to enhance and “spur” others towards a greater capacity to get along better with people.

In addition to the equine sessions, Clark provides workshops for professionals, parents, businesses, or anyone interested in either facilitating or simply enhancing their own social intelligence by playing games with horses. For more information on our equine workshops, please contact Johnny Clark at jclark@tbhinc.org or Scott Averill at saverill@tbhinc.org.