What is PALS? It means Personal Animal Learning Session! It is based on an emerging profession called Animal Assisted Activities / Learning (AAA / AAL) or Equine Assisted Learning (EAL).

It takes place at Cheyne Ranch, outside in nature, among our animals. The learning goals vary for each individual but the common approach is how this outdoor nature setting and our many animals provide motivation and enthusiasm to the participants as they work toward barn and animal skills, which in turn, lead to other essential / important life skills.

PALS is a name of a program created by Cheyne Ranch because Equine-Assisted Learning (EAL) and Animal-Assisted Learning (AAL) don't spell out a cute word like "PALS"

What is the age range for PALS? Any age, current and past clients include a 3 year child as well as an 85 year old.

PALS is for all ages

What will we do during PALS? We will work through our list of nature, animal and barn skills with an emphasis on the student’s specific goals, needs and pace. Each session we will be outdoors in the barn and working directly with our horses, goats, bunnies and chickens. We will follow a progressive list of skills that includes safety, animal feeding and care, animal first-aid, barn chores, and ground handling for horses. Depending on skill level, ability and interest, we may also work on nature crafts, games and other outdoor activities.

Some examples of beginning level learning include: following basic safety rules in the barn, giving water to the animals, brushing the horses in a way the horses appreciate and that is safe for the humans. Plus hundreds of other skills.

We will have fun with animals and learn stuff!

What are some examples of what the student will learn (besides nature, animal and barn skills?)

The BEST part of Cheyne Ranch is witnessing the amazing learning and growth happening with our students all the time. Their desire to connect with the animals and increase their level of independence with the animals motivates them to acquire and practice new skills. These skills benefit and are transferable to other areas in life too.

Some examples of what we have witnessed in our students since piloting this program in 2019:

• Overcoming fears such as animals, and their sounds, smells and even messes the animals sometimes make!

• The pride of success knowing they are managing some of their impulses in order to be safe around the animals

• The increased willingness to push through hard moments because there are plenty of (temporary) hard moments when caring for animals

• Increased work stamina - people who thought they could not tolerate being outside / in the heat / around animals have found success doing all those things - and enjoying it!

• Lots of practice remembering sequences, lists of what comes next, which is all essential when taking care of animals

• The elevated standard of social / peer interactions - because after forming bonds with the animals who do not judge based on any material standards, it feels ridiculous to tolerate that kind of judgement from other humans.

• The confidence that comes from realizing how much we all can keep learning, growing and gaining new skills!

There are countless possibilities for learning and growth here with our animals. Time spent here includes all the accompanying love, fun, mess, sweat, and craziness that caring for animals brings with it. Whether you seek time among the animals to practice emotional awareness and reflection, or work on concrete skills like fractions, we can aim the sessions toward any life skills or primary education skills that can be safely and reasonably achieved.

Learning goals mostly fall into 2 categories 1) life skills or 2) primary education skills

What are the facilitator’s credentials? Sally Ann Cheyne is both the owner of Cheyne Ranch and the primary facilitator of PALS. She has 20 years experience as a software instructor and curriculum writer. She also homeschools her own 4 children, currently all teenagers.

Both Animal Assisted Activities (AAA) and Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) are recognized and growing fields. There are a few respected certifying organizations which offer a rigorous certification processes. Sally currently holds affiliations with the following organizations:

• PATH Intl

  • Current member

  • ESMHL certification - Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning: expected completion November 2021

• MidAmerica Nazarene University

  • Graduate and alum with BA in Human Relations

Is the facilitator a therapist? No, the facilitator is not a speech, occupational, physical therapist, nor a mental health or family therapist. PALS is not intended to be “therapy” in anyway related to the licensed professions. If being outdoors is called “outdoor therapy” than we do that! But we try hard to not use the word therapy in order to avoid any confusion or appearance of attempting to provide licensed therapy. In fact, there is a blog post about this very topic.

Many of our PALS participants are also involved in occupational, speech or mental health therapy. With the participant or parent’s permission and guidance, we are happy to provide support to these therapies during our time in the barn. For example: a child is in occupational therapy for fine motor improvement and the parent asks us to work on fine motor skills with the child. With that guidance, we can ask the child to tie the rope, fasten the horses' halter, open the stall door latch, etc. However, we are not diagnosing any conditions or prescribing any type of therapy.

Will health insurance cover this? At this time AAA and EAL are not covered services by health insurance companies. Families using the Gardiner / Family Empowerment Scholarship have been able to get some of our services reimbursed. Please reach out for more details.

Florida Medicaid recipients using Sunshine Health may qualify for a $200 (5 class) voucher. Please contact me for details.

Will the Gardiner Scholarship (Family Empowerment Scholarship) cover this? Yes! This is a reimbursable service with the Gardiner / Family Empowerment Scholarship. Here is a link with further instructions for how to submit for reimbursemnt: Link