Equine-assisted therapy in which patients interact with horses to address emotional and behavioral challenges is widely used to treat a variety of mental health problems. However, there is little data supporting its effectiveness and no standardized approach to delivering the therapy. “None of us had ever conducted equine therapy before, and so initially we spent a year and a half traveling throughout the country studying other programs and to learn about the characteristics of horses and how their interactions with the veterans would help regulate their emotions,” says Dr. Fisher. “By their nature, horses are skittish or hypervigilant, and people with PTSD are hypervigilant. This presents an opportunity for veterans to recognize and understand fear responses.” “We have here a perfect storm where both the human and the animal are preoccupied with the same problem,” says Dr. Neria. “We created a treatment menu to address this very core problem by allowing the two to engage in a structural way in activities that enable them to take care of these ongoing trauma related functional problems.” “Horses are naturally responsive to verbal and nonverbal cues and thus provide good feedback to the veterans about how they are communicating,” continues Dr. Neria. “Horses are patient and nonjudgmental, allowing opportunities for veterans to make mistakes and learn from them. They are also very forgiving and generous to human beings.” Unlike dogs, which grant love unconditionally, relationships with horses must be earned, notes the researchers. “One must build trust with a horse for it to welcome you into its world,” says Dr. Fisher. “Veterans relearn how to build trust and how to trust themselves again – valuable tools to help them succeed with family, work, and social relationships.”
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