The riding master told us to stay put while he investigated. When he returned, he softly intoned, "I think it's a bear." Just then, an angry growl filled the woods, and the twelve horses simultaneously did an about-face.
My horse, a white fifteen-year old, was something of a maverick. He decided to take off alone with me. He galloped so furiously that I could feel a powerful breeze against my face, as if I were in a convertible going over 40 miles an hour.
Having previously taken numerous lessons, I was quite competent in riding basics, but my 11-year-old body was of insufficient strength to stop the horse. But after about a mile of alternately pleading, comforting ("It's ok now. You're safe"), and pulling on the reins, he relented.
"That horse never ran that fast in his life," said the riding master when he finally caught up with us.
Twenty-eight years later, I am still no equestrian expert, but on that day I learned a great deal about these animals. They sensed a danger of which humans were blissfully ignorant, and they took prudent steps to protect themselves. My elderly horse in particular- initially terrified into running like a two-year-old thoroughbred- eventually settled down and listened to me. He may not have understood my words, but I am convinced that he sensed someone relatively calm and capable was on his back.
Trust. Communication. Self-confidence. These are a few of the many benefits of equine therapy. According to a 1998 article by Carol O'Connor (no relation to the actor) of the Capitol Area Therapeutic Riding Association, equine assisted psychotherapy (EAP) was first developed by eighteenth-century German physicians to treat emotional disorders. "EAP goes beyond the activity of riding, and utilizes the tasks of caring for the horse and the bonds that form through that caring as a means of establishing trust, respect, and responsibility," writes O'Connor.
The treatment, she notes, did not catch on in the United States until about 1970. And only within the last few years has the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association (EFMHA) begun developing standards for this field.
According to an article by EFMHA co-founder Isabella (Boo) McDaniel, equine therapy in the U.S.A. began as a treatment for the physically and mentally disabled, but the patient population quickly expanded to include troubled teenagers, prisoners, and unwed mothers. The Remuda Ranch, about 60 miles northwest of Phoenix, Arizona, uses it to treat anorexics and bulimics.
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