155: Can Horses Help ADHD Kids? with Caz Pringle-Bowden

Could working with animals be the key to helping children with ADHD regulate their emotions and build confidence? In this episode of The Soaring Child, host Dana Kay explores the transformative world of equine-assisted therapy. She’s joined by Caz Pringle-Bowden, a yoga facilitator, counselor, and equine therapy expert who has worked with hundreds of neurodivergent children. Caz shares how horses offer a unique form of emotional and nervous system regulation, helping children develop focus, self-awareness, and trust in ways that traditional therapies often cannot.

Beyond the horse paddock, Caz also teaches yoga and boxing to youth in juvenile detention and designs neurodiversity training for educators. As a neurodivergent woman herself, she brings a deeply personal perspective to her work. In this conversation, she explains why horses have a profound impact on children with ADHD, how parents can incorporate similar strategies at home, and why rethinking the narrative around ADHD is essential for supporting neurodivergent kids.

Links Mentioned in the Show: 

• ADHD Fast Class - https://bit.ly/3GAbFQl

Key Takeaways:
[3:57] What is Equine-Assisted Therapy?
[4:21] The Science Behind Horses and the Nervous System
[6:54] How Equine Therapy Helps Kids with ADHD
[5:22] The Power of Changing the Narrative for Neurodivergent Kids
[20:22] Real-Life Success Stories from Equine Therapy
[34:08] How Parents Can Apply These Lessons at Home

Memorable Moments:

"Horses are not tools to be used. They have thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and experiences, and another system just like ours."

"It is an absolutely powerful and helpful alternative to clinical interventions that works for people that may not be able to sit down in a chair and talk to someone."

"They can hear a heartbeat from up to 10 meters away. So, heart rate variability—if we are excited or nervous, they're going to hear that."

"You cannot lie to a horse."

"By working with a horse, we're actually working with new stories, new stories of hope, resilience, and capacity to counteract those negative stories that that child might have heard."

"When someone is regulated and they're okay, the horse gives trust, and when a horse gives trust, it is real—very, very real."

"It's just 10% of the time that the teachers see it, and they judge me for it. And they only know that 10% of me. They know 10%. They don't know the other 90. They're not even interested."

"If we think—if we have the thought in our head—that our kid is trying all the time to regulate themselves, and they don't know how… they are trying."

How to Connect with Caz Pringle-Bowden:

• W: https://www.cazpringlebowden.com.au/
• Insta : https://www.instagram.com/cazpringlebowden/
• Podcast:https://open.spotify.com/show/1DCAOuCHMbEosshxIYIHQC?si=78b17f4ee52c4c90&nd=1&dlsi=0dff349b71c8