Reachout America’s Equine Therapy:
A Natural and Lasting “Fix” for Special Needs Kids and Veterans
The horse. A powerful, gentle, strong, instinctive, intuitive, and beautiful creature capable of not only sensing a person’s energy and body language, but also developing an authentic and unique bond with a person. For nearly 20 years now, Reachout America has been helping kids with diverse challenges and special needs connect with camps across America – including equine camps. Today, Reachout America is filled with joy to announce that its services now include helping to provide equine-assisted therapy (EAT) opportunities for Veterans, too!
Whether through:
- riding a horse,
- feeding it carrots and treats from the palm of one’s hand,
- detangling and combing the horse’s mane and tail,
- confidently holding up its leg while cleaning a hoof,
- shampooing and showering the horse,
- walking and leading the horse to the stable, pasture, or riding arena, or
- fearlessly mucking out a stall (with the horse still in it!)
There are countless ways for a Veteran to connect with this magnificent creature (and thus reconnect with themselves, their families, civilian life, and the world, in general). Whether a veteran is battling post-traumatic stress, a physical challenge, depression, alcoholism or drug addiction, anxiety, or simply having a seemingly-impossible time moving forward in civilian life, being in the company of a horse can profoundly change, improve, and/or alleviate those struggles. Spending time with a horse farm and embracing all it has to offer is life changing. From –
- taking in the awesome scent of horses, hay, and barns,
- experiencing a horse look straight at you with compassion and trust,
- rubbing a horse’s belly, and
- hugging its neck, to –
- sitting atop the 1500-pound creature makes it miraculously impossible to stay stuck in sadness and suffocated by stress.
Since horses react only to an individual’s behavior and emotions, they are unbiased creatures that don’t judge, discriminate, or care about a person’s physical appearance, rank, status, ethnicity, religious beliefs, financial status, or past mistakes. Quite similar to the unbreakable bond one makes with a beloved dog, this innate ability of a horse to build trust and connect with humans makes bonding with them authentic and life enhancing. The benefits of equine therapy for Veterans are long-lasting and far-reaching, and include:
Feeling Calm Again
Though it may, at first, feel a bit intimidating being in such close proximity to such a huge, powerful creature, horses naturally inspire calmness. This is particularly important for Veterans since many of them often feel on edge, anxious, and unable or unwilling to continue to build genuine relationships with new friends or loved ones. It’s hard to have meaningful conversations and build connections with someone who isn’t calm, focused, and in the moment. Being in the company of a horse – even for a day – can help to change that. Witnessing such a wondrous animal display calmness, gentleness, and patience inspires calmness, gentleness, and patience in the horse’s caretaker as well.
Becoming Responsible Again
It’s hard to be self-absorbed or stuck inside your own needs, insecurities, and inner conflicts when there’s a huge animal in front of you that needs to be fed, showered, exercised, and groomed on a daily basis! For Veterans who make the commitment to spend regular time at horse farms — riding and caring for the animals — there’s no leeway available and no excuse accepted for not holding up to that commitment. Working with and caring for horses is a big responsibility. For its survival, the animal is dependent on its caretaker. By enabling Veterans to care for horses, Veterans are also naturally learning how to care for themselves again. While it’s a lot of work, a lot of lessons are learned along the way. Veterans acquire new life skills and, once again, become responsible for their own life choices, their personal and financial commitments, their health and wellness, and the healthy relationships they build with loved ones.
Being Hopeful Again
Spending time in the open air learning how to care for, tack up, and ride a horse helps to affirm how each day is a blessing and a gift to look forward to. Equine therapy helps Veterans regain confidence, let go of negative thoughts, and be hopeful about the future – all while developing and building an amazing bond with an amazing animal that can read a person’s energy and body language from the moment the person enters the stable.
Living in the Moment Again
It’s hard to keep clinging to and thinking about one’s anger, regrets, or past mistakes when there’s a 2000-pound horse whinnying in front of you because it’s happy to see you, wants to run in the outdoor field and roll in the dirt, or is hungry for some alfalfa, hay and apples. You can’t be stuck somewhere else in your thoughts when you’ve got the leg of a horse in your hands and are digging out the day’s dirt from its hoof. Being in the company of a horse enables you to be truly aware of and living in the moment. With their high energetic sensitivity to keep themselves safe, horses are acutely attuned to whether a person is fully present in mind, body, and spirit when near them. As a result, horses naturally respond more to humans in their company who are 100% present in the moment. If you are a Veteran experiencing a disconnect with the world and long to replace depression, drugs, anxiety, or stress with an overall sense of calmness, a renewed confidence, and a certainty that what matters most in life is choosing not to remain stuck and stagnate in thoughts and sorrows that separate you from truly living your best life now, contact Reachout America today to be connected with an equine therapy camp.
