FOUR LEGGED THERAPY
The HORSES HELPING HEROES PROJECT is a 501(c)3 non-profit
organization that uses the horse as a therapeutic modality for veterans with
special needs and disabilities. Our mission is to empower military and
first-responder veterans to face the challenges of mental, emotional and
physical wounds and to assist them in creating active, healthier and more
fulfilling lives through equine-assisted activities and therapies.
Founded in 2010, the program began as a traditional
therapeutic riding program. Today, it has evolved to be primarily a ground work
program as it is the hands-on work and bonding with their horse that has proven
to be the most therapeutic for the veteran.
Using a private facility not open to the public, each
veteran is given an opportunity to work through their issues in complete
privacy and with the support of trained volunteer staff and fellow military
personnel. On the first day of class, each veteran is assigned to a horse and
works with that horse for the duration of the 8-week session. With a goal to
educate our participants and to give them the necessary tools to develop their
horsemanship skills, we begin each class with a lecture or presentation on a
horse-related topic. Some of the
topics from the spring 2013 sessions included: safety around horses; horse body language; fun facts about
horses; common horse and human body parts; and, application of the Masterson
Method -Beyond Horse Massage.
With a mission to empower the veterans, we provide
progressively more challenging tasks for the veteran/horse
team to accomplish during the session. For the novice, this may start with
simple leading of the horse through a basic obstacle course and culminate in an
in-hand trail class competition. For the more seasoned veteran it may mean the
team works at liberty negotiating the obstacle course or the veteran learns how
to free lunge his horse in a field. Regardless of the activity, as the
veteran/horse team develops, we see an increase in relaxation, self-confidence,
and self-esteem.
The horses though are the real stars of the program. The
majority of the program horses are Morgans.
We find their size is less
intimidating, they are very people oriented and they have a high level of
curiosity. Their willingness to be
handled by a wide variety of individuals with vastly different physical
capabilities and communications skills is amazing to watch. You can almost hear
their wheels grinding as they try to figure out what the veteran wants them to
do. If Plan A doesn’t work, invariably they come through for their veteran when
Plan B is applied.
We do not charge for our services and receive no federal or
state support. We fund this program through public donations, corporate
sponsors, grants, fundraising efforts and the generosity of ACTHA members who
host rides to support the HORSES HELPING HEROES PROJECT. We thank you for helping us help
veterans. For more information, please visit our website www.horseshelpingheroesproject.com.
