By Angie Sullivan
With spring here, La Esperanza in Sutton is getting the farm and horses ready for clients of all ages to experience its equine sessions.
This horse facility differs from the more common riding school because the horses are handled only from the ground. It’s more about the connection with the animals and the learning and healing that can come from groundwork.
Karina Ruber Albert is the founder of the program and is the farm’s equine-assisted learning facilitator. She spent more than two decades as a kindergarten teacher before creating La Esperanza, blending her experience in education with training in equine-assisted learning and additional studies through the University of Guelph.
Albert said, “At La Esperanza, every moment in the arena is designed to support emotional well-being and personal growth guided by the quiet wisdom of horses. What you learn here doesn’t stay here; it becomes part of how you live, lead, and love every day.”
Valeria Blumenkranz has attended several sessions with her husband to strengthen their teamwork and said, “The experience opened my eyes to something I overlooked. The relationships with the horses and donkey gave me an awareness of how little attention we bring to non-verbal communication.”
During their workshops, Blumenkranz and her husband, Adrian, were given tasks to do with the horses, like walking over poles and working with obstacles. Adrian said the experience “was mind-blowing. I learned so much about discovering my inner peace with the horses as entities when they give you their full attention.”
Albert explained, “At the beginning of each workshop, participants start by grooming the horse. Then, we move into different stations set up in the arena, where they are guided through problem-solving activities. For example, they may lead the horse across poles from one end to the other, guide the horse to step on specific numbers marked on the ground, they will need to talk with the horse or ask the horse to back up through poles, among other tasks.”
Daniel Ruber has attended a workshop and said, “One exercise involved guiding a horse through a path without forcing it in any way, using communication alone. It was much more challenging and thought-provoking than I expected, and it showed me how important patience, self-regulation, empathy, respect, and being fully present really are.”
Birthday parties, workshops, a fall pony club program, and curated parent-child and couples experiences are offered. The pony club costs $35 per day for children aged four to 10. The workshops for all ages start at $240 and go up to $420.
“Our sessions with horses are more than just another fun day out; they’re life-changing experiences that build emotional awareness and real-world confidence,” said Albert.
The Sutton area farm is owned by Victoria Barnes-Ayres and is home to nine horses. Albert was originally mentored by Barnes-Ayres when she first moved to Canada and had a transformative experience with a horse named Sunny and learned, “how horses can gently mirror your emotions, break down your walls, and guide you back to yourself – without words,” said Albert.
Albert used this experience to create La Esperanza and since then she said, “The program has helped children find their confidence, parents find hope, and adults reconnect with the peace they had lost.”
To learn more, visit laesperanza.ca.
Or visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/laesperanzaEAL
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