About Equilibre

Equilibre Gaia is the brainchild of a joint effort between Victor Ros and his wife Helka Lehtinen, who would like to share the knowledge and experience they have gained in their continuing journey with horses and in the horse-human relation.

Combining Victor`s studies in animal behaviour with Helka`s studies of social anthropology they attempt to cover a holistic, multidisciplinary scientific approach with a touch of personal awareness and sensitivity.

Equilibre Gaia – An educational centre that offers classes, workshops, courses and conferences in relation to horses, animal behaviour and our environment.

Our educational activities are based on two fundamental pillars:

1. Human sensitivity (our ability to detect change) in respect to the animals physical and mental well-being.

2. The Natural Sciences, such as: Ethology, Sociobiology, applied psychology, physiology...Learning theory

This basis makes us consider ourselves as part of an open movement, Natural Horsemanship (Doma Natural), where differences in method exist with a common philosophy.

For us, Natural Horsemanship (Doma Natural) is not a step by step methodology, nor a discipline, but instead it is a “rucksack” full of tools that anyone can use in order to improve their relationship with horses whether it is for pleasure or profit. It is considering the living animal before you (or under) and apply what we may consider as its biological needs, based on sound criteria.

We offer another perspective, amongst many, that attempts to have a holistic view in order to achieve a compromise between the animals well-being and its domestic utility. It is with this vision that we launch our Campus, where professionals can share and students attain knowledge related to horses.

So much has been written about horses and their behaviour, that it becomes difficult for most to decipher the vast quantity of available information, many  times even contradictory. It is normal to see differences and one should not despair!

The old Sufi story springs into mind; Of the blind men that bump into an elephant for the first time and their attempt to describe it, . They all fall into a heated discussion of who is right and wrong; they are all right in describing their little discovery but wrong in not considering the sum of each part to have a better picture of the whole.