Purpose: The study aims to develop, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of an equine-assisted empathy enhancement intervention designed to support teachers’ mental health.
Method: The intervention was administered to 20 teachers with an average age of 53.7 years, over a period of 5 days, with each day consisting of 7 hours of activities. These activities included learning about horse behavior, engaging in hands-on experiences with horses, and participating in horseback riding exercises. Key mental health outcomes—empathy, subjective happiness, and psychological acceptance—were measured, along with blood cortisol levels (a physiological marker of stress), both before and after intervention. A two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess changes in these variables over time and by gender.
Results: The intervention resulted in significant improvements in empathy, subjective happiness, and psychological acceptance, along with a reduction in cortisol levels following the intervention. Notably, the increase in psychological acceptance was significantly greater among male participants compared to their female counterparts.
Conclusion: The equine-assisted empathy enhancement intervention facilitated the use of non-verbal communication, fostering reciprocal physical and emotional exchanges, which led to improved empathy and psychological acceptance. The physical engagement provided by horseback riding further amplified feelings of happiness, contributing synergistically to reduce cortisol levels, a key indicator of stress. These findings suggest that equine-assisted interventions may serve as a viable and effective strategy for promoting mental health among teachers.