Ste. Anne's adds horsepower to list of spa treatments

By Valerie MacDonald

Award-winning Ste. Anne's Country Inn and Spa is expanding its approach to promoting health with its new Horse-2-Heart Program.

Already recognized internationally for its lineup of traditional and innovative spa treatments, the castle-like facility north of Grafton is hitching up with neighbouring Valley View Stables to provide clients with an opportunity to work with a professional coach and a horse.

During special two-hour sessions with horses, people can learn to better connect with their own bodies and minds, says special projects manager Marijo Corcoran. The program can run for one, two or three days depending on the length of stay of the client.

Many of Ste. Anne's visitors are Type A personalities, juggling a lot of responsibilities and always wanting to be in control. Working with a horse (from grooming to leading, and then riding) requires a single focus, clear mind and emotional calm, Ms. Corcoran said during a recent interview as she was going through the program herself.

Although she is a rider now, Ms. Corcoran said she once had an intense fear of horses. Through her conversion, the benefits of working with horses became very evident. The Ste. Anne's program builds on this for people who have experience with horses, or who are neophytes.

During the early morning session, Ms. Corcoran received instruction from coach/trainer Esther Johnson about the proper approach to grooming school horse, Boomer, learning to relax with him inside the stable, and then how to lead him around an outdoor paddock using body language and her rhythm of breathing.

Interacting with large animals, like horses, can "greatly enhance one's personal and professional relationships," states a media release about the program's benefits. Working with a horse requires a "balanced and harmonious relationship."

Some people may never get past the grooming stage of getting comfortable with their horse and others will be riding more quickly than others, Ms. Johnson said.

"Nurturing a relationship with a large, powerful animal teaches you how to face the fears you may have in your relationships with large, powerful people by working on assertiveness, intuitive skills and trust," Ste. Anne's Spa owner Jim Corcoran states in a media release.

Ste. Anne's had been looking to team up with a stable and when Sandy Parisius-Jackson purchased one within sight of the spa, the opportunity to pursue the new program took shape, Ms. Corcoran said. Boomer is one of eight school horses on the ranch which covers about 30 acres of rolling terrain, says Ms. Parisius-Jackson, who has lived in the Grafton area for about seven years after relocating from Toronto. As a youngster, she rode in the Shelter Valley area, she said. Now her daughter is doing the same.

Ste. Anne's equine experience at Valley View Stables gives people the chance to let horses touch their hearts as they learn "life-long skills of leadership, self-awareness and communication," sums up Ms. Parisius-Jackson.