Are There Dangers of Using Horses as Therapy?
It seems odd to say that there are dangers of using horses as therapy doesn't it? But when I say this, I'm not referring to hippotherapy, the widely successful type of riding therapy used for people with disabilities.
I'm referring to the many people who are drawn to horses because of the peace that they bring. I'm referring to the people who have experienced trauma, abuse, or neglect and find themselves drawn to the magic of horses.
My Experience with Dysfunction in the Horse Community
After a 20 year hiatus from horses, I found myself dropped back into the horse community like debris is sucked into a tornado. One minute I wasn't even thinking about horses and the next I owned a Dutch Warmblood gelding that everyone in the Austin-area horse community knew, and nobody wanted. (That's him above in the photo.)
As I excitedly prepared myself for horse ownership again, I moved my horse to a local boarding barn. Unbeknownst to me, the owner of that boarding barn was an alcoholic and prescription drug addict. After a month of her unpredictability and instability, I found another boarding barn.
I moved my horse there and thought I had found the right place. And for over a year, it went pretty well. But then the owner of that barn separated from her husband and started going through a divorce. She began to severely neglect the 15+ horses in her care, including mine. I discovered that she had a track record of doing this when undergoing personal challenge.
The Drama Continues
By this time I had 3 horses (you really can't have just one.) I found an individual that agreed to let me bring them to her place for boarding. I should have known when she told me “Some people call me a bitch” that I might be in trouble. However, I am really easy going and as she was a friend of a friend, I thought it would be ok.
That individual casually asked me one day after a month or two, if I would sell one of my horses to her. I declined. It was the Dutch Warmblood, that I had turned around, and suddenly he was wanted. But he was my heart horse and I was never letting him go.
I didn't know it then but telling her no was apparently not something she was accustomed to. She proceeded to make things as difficult for me as possible. This included trying to hold my horses hostage when I found yet another boarding barn to move them to.
At the next place, just one month after I moved my horses there, the barn manager was discovered to be a meth addict and was captured on video drugging horses. After he was escorted off the property by law enforcement, I was told that the agreement he and I had for care of my horses was no longer valid. Surprisingly, he had taken great care of MY horses to that point.
My horses would no longer be cared for in the same way however. They began to lose weight and two of them got rain rot, a skin condition often related to poor nutrition. I had hundreds of dollars of tack stolen after that as well, and the deposit I had paid to the original barn manager was never returned.
I decided I was done with boarding. Via a friend of a friend, I was lucky enough to find some land to lease less than 10 minutes away from my house. A friend helped me move my horses there and I have been taking care of them myself ever since.
Therapists Need Therapy
I was shocked at the dysfunction and drama I had experienced. I had always worked in professional fields where community and support of each other was the rule rather than the exception. It baffled me that the horse community was, in my experience to that point, selfish and unstable.
I remarked to a friend one day that it reminded me of therapists who become therapists because they need or needed therapy themselves. I said, “People find horses so therapeutic, except that some of them never get the true therapy they need.”
Years have gone by and I have mostly stayed to myself with regards to the in-person horse community. I have cultivated a small group of horse owning friends, as well as a faithful online following, of those who think the same way that I do about horses. That is, that horses are valuable, cognizant, and worthy of being treated well, no matter what is going on with us as individuals.
Having participated in numerous horse groups of all kinds on Facebook though, I see that the drama and dysfunction of the horse community is alive and well. The vehemence with which people are quick to judge, lash out, and condemn will give you whiplash.
Last year I attended a trail riding competition as a visitor. I was reminded once again of the reasons I have stayed to myself as I listened to complaining, judgement and disdain in the voices of many around me. All of this brings me back to my original thought.
Dangers of Using Horses as Therapy
There ARE dangers of using horses as therapy. They come if you are not in fact working on yourself too. Because not only does the horse lose, but the entire horse community loses as well.
The danger of using horses as therapy lies in being completely unaware that you are doing so. I think people are drawn to horses for their beauty, air of freedom, and more. Ultimately, horses have this seemingly magical ability to bring deep peace to those around them. And I don't think most are aware of the horse's immense ability to do so, or even that it may be the reason why they are drawn to them.
It simply mystifies me still that with all of that magic, there are so many unhappy, judgmental, and critical horse owners. There is so much peace available to access.
Finding Peace with Horses
One of the keys to finding your peace is to make time to experience the magic of horses.
Examples could include:
- Don't just run in, saddle up your horse, exercise/ride them, and put them up. Get to know them.
- Observe them with other horses if possible. Spend time with them grazing.
- What kind of behavior do they have when they eat their feed?
- Where are they tight in their body? What relaxes that tightness?
- Read horse behavior and training books.
- Study horse anatomy, and why and how they move the way they move.
- Learn to trim their hooves yourself.
- Only have as many horses as you can do this with regularly. (This primarily applies to individuals who own horses for personal use.) I've been guilty of having more horses than I really needed, but in this case, quality is more important than quantity.
- Have a Horse Magic session with me and my horses and let me show you what horses are truly capable of.
- No matter your regular discipline or choice of activity, take some dressage lessons. Your relationship with your horse will improve.
You have this incredible being that you have the good fortune to share your life with. Treating them solely as a tool is a disservice to both you and them.
Know Yourself
While you get to know them, get to know yourself. Each person's challenges are different but here are a few suggestions:
- Evaluate your responses to your horses every time you think about it. Are you patient/impatient, angry/happy, happy/grieving, informed/need more info.?
- After you evaluate your emotions, consider how the horse responds to you. In many cases, the horse is responding not to its own emotions or body, but to yours. For horses that you spend a lot of time with, they may even be mirroring something happening in your body. It might be emotions, limiting beliefs, or even pain or a physical condition.
- If you are responding from a place of trauma, emotional pain, grief, etc. just tell the horse what is wrong. Say it out loud. Horses generally just want us to tell the truth about what we are feeling. In some cases, it may be better to walk away from the horse. You have to make that judgment call. But more times than not, the horse will relax once you've expressed what you are feeling. And that's where the peace comes in for both of you.
- If you realize that there are dangers of using horses as therapy and it is more than you or they can process, find a good therapist. (I'm not suggesting anything I haven't done myself. I have seen therapists more than once in my life.)
- Don't give up on yourself.
These are just a few ideas for your horses and yourself. You may have to modify according to your situation.
Horse Community
Lastly I want to circle back to the horse community as a whole. If you do these things, or others, for your horse(s) and you, you will begin to see that many other horses owners have issues they struggle with too. As I said, many of us come to horses for the peace that they bring. When you understand that others are struggling, you will see that kindness and compassion will take you farther than judgement and criticism.
You will see that even in competition, you can be supportive and understanding. Boundaries can always be set with those that need them, but lead with kindness. The horse community needs as much of it as it can get, both the people and the horses.
In Closing
I close by saying that I KNOW there is a lot of goodness in the horse world too. I know because of the friends I've made and the resources I have found. But the drama IS prevalent in the horse community.
I know one article isn't going to change the horse community overnight, but this topic has weighed on me for years and I just felt like it was time to speak up. If it resonates with you, I'd love to hear your thoughts or have you share it with others that might enjoy it too.
