ABSTRACT This study fits within calls for research on the experiences of children who care deeply about animals and whose intensity of empathy could typify them as supernurturers. This study had a two-part purpose. First, the analysis explores whether and how young supernurturers perceive horses as agentic beings who direct empathy toward them. Second, the study addresses whether perceived horse empathy gives supernurturers permission to value self-empathy. The sample included 34 girls and young women aged 10 through 23 years from 30 families who were part of a hunter/jumper riding community. Open-ended interviews of about 1–2 hours in length were conducted. The analysis showed that these young supernurturers perceive horses as volitional actors who engage in empathy. Additionally, it suggested that encounters with perceived horse empathy are associated with (a) heightened capacity to engage in self-empathy when distressed, (b) expanded appreciation for how their own nurturing skills refined through horse caretaking transfer to other contexts, and (c) willingness to allow their satisfaction in loving and learning about horses to spill over to other life domains. In short, this study found evidence that perceived horse empathy provides opportunities for supernurturers to experience their own humanity through the regard of an animal other.
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