Someone once said, "Riding is a metaphor for life. The horse is a sensitive and unconditional partner who accepts you as you are but who will not lie for you."
At Sunrise Therapeutic Riding and Learning Centre in Guelph Ontario, as well as at other centres throughout Canada, they have begun to recognize that there are people with psychiatric difficulties who may be assisted through something called Equine Facilitated Mental Health.
At Alberta's well-recognized Healing Hooves Stables, Sue Mclntosh, who holds a Masters degree in Psychology, has kept her therapeutic riding organization running at the same speed as the currently overheated Alberta economy. At this facility everyone from troubled children to an office full of well-educated corporate staff are learning exactly why they get frustrated at writing a test, or suffer anxiety when the boss walks by. According to Mclntosh, working face to face with a 1000-pound animal quickly puts you into a situation where you are forced to discover who you are.
At face value, therapeutic riding stables appear to accomplish more with less pain on horseback, and in fewer sessions, than when working with a traditional practitioner. The notion that the horse is a better therapist has more than one professional a tad upset.
It is a given that horses do not care what you look like or how many degrees you have, or don't have-they just live in the moment. Do horses help physically and mentally disabled people? CANtra, a large organization that serves as an umbrella for handicap riding programs, the - Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association, works with and recognizes that the noble creatures have special healing and grounding qualities-and they say-yes.
Critics are quick to offer that there appears to be danger in adopting a therapy without some form of check and balance system. In the United States of America there appears to be countless therapeutic stables and ranches of every description purporting to cure ailments from Psycho-Affective Conditions, to Post Traumatic Stress Disorders and even Episodic Compulsive Shop-Lifting. Clinicians will explain that for these and many other conditions there are no cures. ".. .For those involved in Equine Mental Health," say those at CANtra, "We want to be very sure that misuse of this type of therapy does not happen in Canada as it has south of our own border."
"It's been proven that just being in the vicinity of a horse changes your brain waves," says Ann Cain of Sunrise Therapeutic Riding and Learning Centre. "They have a calming effect which stops people from becoming fixated on past or negative events. It gives them a really positive experience every time."
Equine Facilitated Mental Health has proven particularly useful for people with autism, attention deficit disorder (ADD) or bipolar all of which seems to make it difficult for people to communicate and appears to hinder people from carrying out verbal instructions. The change is startling. Even people displaying severe anti-social and aggressive behavior become calmer and more communicative as the horse interacts with them.
"The horse becomes a mirror to the person they are with..." It is therapeutic riding guru, Leslie Moreau, a San Antonio Texas therapeutic riding Psychotherapist, who is in demand throughout North America as a speaker about the benefits of therapeutic riding. Ms Moreau continues,".. .The horse is a prey animal. - “It is always on the lookout for predators. This is why their eyes evolved to the side of their heads. The horse will become quite fearful if they are with someone who is aggressive, noisy, disrespectful, and too controlling. On the other hand, if the person they are with can be assisted to make requests of the horse instead of demands, the horse will always oblige."
Experts tell us that a consumer/survivors with only a little insight into dealing with a horse in the right way can become a "natural" in a very short time. The horse in return feels safe and peaceful and will cooperate with what is asked of him.
Consumer/survivors can often manage a horse more easily because they have learned to accept things at face value. It is this, after all is said and done, that is the uncontrollable.
There isn't a specific type or breed of horse that isn't suitable for Equine Facilitated Mental Health. All horses, perhaps with the exception of stallions and competition horses, can be used for Equine Facilitated Mental Health. What is important is that they have a calm, patient, and trainable temperament.
Safety is the top priority and every horse has to undergo a thorough assessment before being considered for Equine Facilitated Mental Health. The horse must not kick, rear, buck, bite or mouth and he must be sound.
Animals are a Valuable Therapy Resource
Animals have always played an important and historic role in rehabilitation. Florence Nightingale was the earliest recorded health care practitioner to use animals. That was in 1860. She observed that, "a small pet is often an excellent companion for the sick, for long chronic cases especially."
The first extensive use of animals in a therapeutic setting in the United States occurred from 1944 to 1945 in Pawling, New York. Patients, recovering at the Army Air Corps Convalescent Hospital, were encouraged to work at the hospital farm. Since then animals have been used in many therapeutic interventions.
What About Money?
"Funding is a problem for us," says Ann Cain of Sunrise Therapeutic Riding and Learning Center. She is not alone. The same is the case for any number of similar stables across the country. In Canada, funding continues to be a constant thorn in the side of those seeking this type of therapy. The very people that this kind of therapy can help are the people who are disadvantaged enough so that money is a problem. For those without a private source of funding, a source of payment may vary from region to region across the country. In the United States, the picture changes depending on the kind of insurance carrier involved.
"We have a very tight budget here at Sunrise," Cain continues, "and we do have to charge a fee. Many of our clients live in group homes for any number of medical reasons. Other clients come from very poor families who can't even afford the cost of group-home support. Even families with two incomes often have such high medical costs; their finances are limited for therapies such as we provide."
The usual fee for therapeutic riding ranges from $150 to $250 per session. The client must often cover a portion of the total fee and that is at times impossible for them. Ann Cain reluctantly indicated that lacking other forms of insurance, the clients usually must resort to begging from other charities or do without the benefits of this therapy
When choosing a therapeutic riding stable, be sure to research the stable's credentials. At this time in Canada, anybody with the resources may set up a horse stable and call themselves a therapeutic riding stable.
