Welcome to Equifinality! 

We are so excited that you are here. This blog has been in the making for many months and now that life has slowed down (at least for a few seconds) we have finally gotten it started. We look forward to creating a space for purposeful discussion on all things horse!

Why the name Equifinality?

Equifinality is defined as the idea that a specific result can be attained by many different means, essentially that there are many different paths to the same end. The concept was named by a developmental psychologist, Hans Driesch, as a way to describe a complex system’s convergent behaviors. Later on, Ludwig von Bertalanffy, applied the term to the larger paradigm of systems theory. Systems Theory has been adopted by many different disciplines, but has yet to make its appearance in the realm of horses (at least to our knowledge!) 

We believe that interacting with horses has a certain equifinality about it. If you ask 20 horse people a question, chances are you will end up with about 56 different answers… and THAT is what makes it so fascinating! We hope that this blog will serve as a platform for discussion about all the different ways and opinions of doing things and will be a rich environment for learning and being open to new ideas!

Who are we?

We are two open-minded people that love to learn and talk all things horse! Get to know us each more below.

Leanne Nieforth

I love to witness and experience the connection between humans and horses. It is so powerful and has so much to offer to both partners. Over the years, I have been able to help both horses and humans create healthy relationships through teaching, training, research and facilitating equine assisted psychotherapy and equine assisted learning. I love delving deep into the process behind these connections to help horses and humans reach a mutual understanding of one another.

My two greatest teachers have been my 2 horses; Bentley (an 11 year old Morgan gelding) and Izzie (a 5 year old PaintX pony mare) (pictured below). In addition to working directly alongside horses and people, I have been researching the human horse connection since 2014. I am so excited to share and learn more about both the research and practice of the human-horse connection!

Rachel Latson

Horses have been a part of my life since my preteen years but as time goes on I realize I have so much more to learn from them. Writing my experiences and thoughts on this platform is a way to give a voice to my horse and to all sentient beings we share this world with. I live in Durham NC and my quarter horse Bucket and I have been partners since 2005. In my younger years, I volunteered at a therapeutic riding facility in my hometown, Angelic Riders, and showed western pleasure in county shows. Currently, I volunteer with Corral Riding Academy as an equine specialist in their equine assisted psychotherapy program. I have an interest in understanding horses on a deeper level emotionally and the biomechanics and art of dressage.