Equine Facilitated Learning Coaching and Healing

I met Gloria at the Annual VegFest at Spokane Community College, in Spokane, WA. She had a display table there about treating trauma with horses. This drew my interest, which then led me to her ranch and two amazing experiences with her Big Black and Big Brown horses, as I call them. What I came away with from these experiences is expressed in these statements about myself: I am whole; I am part of the Divine; I am safe; I am powerful and I am calm and alert.

 

As a Veteran of the Viet Nam War and now a retired nurse and counselor, I was looking for something outside the VA System to help veterans. I had previously worked at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, in Spokane, WA, and found much lacking in the care of our nations veterans. The latest statistics reveal that one veteran every hour commits suicide or about 8500 a year. I myself attempted suicide twice and I’ve known veterans who had taken their lives. I wanted to continue working to help veterans like myself, heal from the physical, psyche and soul debilitating effects of trauma.

 

Even though I’d had good childhood/teenage and even a few adult experiences with horses, I didn’t view them as therapists; as an animal that could help heal veterans wounded souls. But there I was standing in front of this Big Black Horse making observation of his reactions to me and mine to him. At one point, he came behind me a placed his large soft nose into my neck, and head over my shoulder, hugging me and letting me know I am now one of the herd. His action made me feel unconditionally accepted by him. Somewhere in myself I heard, you need to speak with your authentic voice, don’t be afraid. With some coaching from Gloria, the marvelous EAGALA trained horse woman, I was able, through a body scan led by her, to ground myself in the earth and the experience of tuning into what a horse could teach me about myself.

 

Before the experience with the Big Black horse I told Gloria and Ruth, her horse handler, that I’d had good riding experiences with horses as a teenager and these helped me, as a very traumatized kid, from severe brutality in my family. This family violence perpetrated against me, eventually led to my being placed in a series of foster homes before graduating from HS, in Warren, Ohio. I told Gloria, those times out riding with a High School friend and the horses made me feel like I was okay and momentarily free, even though there was that dirty secret, of being beaten and raped, by my step-father lingering in my mind and soul. I felt different from my other girl and boys friends because of this ugly secret. Then later in the military, as if wearing a big sign that said, “Abuse Me,” I was sexually assaulted and harassed the entire 4 years, 5 months and 23 days while serving in the United States Air Force, from 1965 to 1970. This type of sexual torment and trauma, later led to a psychiatric diagnosis of PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, for which there is of this date no cure.

Having the experiences with the Big Black and Big Brown horses, I truly feel, as a nurse and counselor, there is a very positive need for Equine Therapy, done by these dedicated horsewomen and men using the EAGALA Model and trained in EAP (Equine Assisted Psychotherapy), in conjunction with a licensed psychiatric/mental health professional, to assist those veterans suffering from the mind, heart and soul wounding of war.

I feel deep gratitude to Gloria and Ruth, for including me in this journey, to help veterans traumatized by their war experiences, leading to PTSD. I am committed to helping bring this valuable therapy to veterans like myself and others who have been traumatized.