How does Equine Therapy help Mental Health?

Connor Vivek McKendrick

Liberal Studies, Conestoga College

COMM 1085-24W-Sec 103- College Reading & Writing Skills

Jessica Srivastava

2024-04-03
 One crucial component of health is mental health. As society progresses, more

alternative therapy practices are becoming normalized, one such being Equine therapy.

(Ward et al., 2022). This type of therapy has been found to help those with their mental

health, as evident through it being used with troubled teens, PTSD patients and

children. Two programs that exemplify this include Equine Assisted Therapy and Equine

Assisted Learning. (Burgon et al., 2017). This essay will argue that equine therapy has

the ability to help individuals with their mental health.

One way that Equine therapy is used to help people with mental health is by

helping troubled teens. Troubled teens can deal with a range of difficulties, from

behavioral issues, academic problems, mental, social, and emotional difficulties. The

importance of equine therapy within troubled teens was analyzed by Hannah Burgon, Di

Gammage and Jenny Hebden. This study examined a group of 7 teens, all between the

ages of 11-15 years old. Many different activities were used to prove the effectiveness

of equine therapy, one such being mindfulness activities. (Burgon et al., 2018).

Moreover, horses are naturally very sensitive towards emotion and very reactive

towards stressful situations. Thus, they built a social environment with the instructors,

therapists, and other participants, and used nonverbal and verbal communication.

(Burgon et al., 2018). Attachment theory is also evident within this study. Participants

were paired with a horse and were put in a stressful environment created through

participants being with their horse when it gets scared and spooks. (Burgon et al.,

2018). This relates to attachment theory as when people aren't raised in a secure

environment, they may not have all the foundations to succeed in society. Equine

therapy allows people to make choices, simply be present with the horses, so that they
can feel what they want to feel and have a non-judgmental environment. Moreover, the

program is process-oriented rather than task-oriented, which allows the participants to

experience the process of growth at their own pace. (Burgon et al., 2018). As the

Hoofbeats and Heartbeats article says: “One of its core principles is that all humans

share universal needs such as safety, sustenance, and relationship/connection”

(Burgon et al., 2018). The effectiveness of this therapy is evident through one

participant stating they trust everyone meaning the horses and allow them to make their

own choices (Burgon et al., 2018). Through teaching participants to have patience and

to freely express themselves with the horses, equine therapy has been proven to help

those with their mental health by helping troubled teens.

Equine therapy is also shown to help people with their mental health, as shown

with PTSD patients, also known as patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Rosing et al. (2022) state that “Characteristic symptoms of PTSD include hyperarousal,

hypervigilance, intrusive thoughts and memories and the avoidance of interactions’

(para. 2). Rosing et al. (2022) further state “The emotional impact of PTSD can hinder a

patient's ability to concentrate, which can affect academic achievement, financial self-

sufficiency or the ability to hold down a job” (para. 3). However, people with PTSD may

have self-worth issues and question their capability of understanding basic things. Even

though there are lots of western practices used in healing, not all are helpful for people

suffering. (Rosing et al., 2022). Rosling (2022) analyzed equine therapy within PTSD

patients in the article and report, “A number of studies have proposed that experiential

therapy helps reduce anxiety, improves belief in one's capability and social skills,

strengthens resilience through sensory and spatial stimuli experienced in a safe

change (para. 5). Through this study, they held a weekly 3-hour session. Activities

consisted of bareback riding (rider does not use a saddle), grooming activities (brushing

the horse, grooms the mane, picks and cleans the feet), groundwork (sharing personal

stories and feelings), and group conversations (Discussion of their

knowledge/understanding of coping skills). Many patients found themselves more

capable of dealing with anxiety/ trauma and triggering environments, being able to form

relationships in a non-judgmental way (Rosing et al., 2022).

Equine therapy is not only helpful for adults and teens suffering from mental

health, as they can also help children who are struggling mentally/emotionally. Acri

(2021) states “This paper describes the development of an alternative treatment that

incorporates cognitive behavioral components for anxiety into an adaptive/therapeutic

riding program delivered by certified riding instructors in a horse stable that offers

horseback riding and therapeutic horsemanship programs” (para. 2). However, (Acri et

al., 2021) also states: “Approximately 16% or 7.7 million youth between six and 17

years of age are estimated to have a treatable mental health disorder, yet half (49.4%)

do not receive mental health services”. (Acri et al., 2021) states: There is a huge

stigmatism around mental health whether people do not believe in the help of therapy,

not being able to afford long waiting lists, or not enough spots being available for

everyone. (Acri et al., 2021) also states: “Childhood anxiety, the most common and

impairing condition, is characterized by intrusive thoughts, excessive worry, panic and

fear (Merikangas et al., 2010). A program that helps with it is called Reining in Anxiety.

It consists of (1) weekly review, (2) groom and connect, (3) warm-up (4) session activity,
(5) cool down, (6) parent/caregiver psychoeducation, and (7) homework instruction.

Through this process, children were found to be able to work through some emotional

and mental health issues. (Acri et al., 2021). It is also important to note that

“Approximately 16% or 7.7 million youth between six and 17 years of age are estimated

to have a treatable mental health disorder, yet half (49.4%) do not receive mental health

services” (Whitney & Peterson, 2019). The program used CBT therapy activities, such

as teaching the student relaxation techniques, problem-solving skills, communication

skills, while allowing them to express themselves in a non-judgmental environment.

Activities in this program included grooming, where the horse and the rider can connect

more personally, a warm-up where the rider and the horse can warm up their muscles

and the instructor can do an emotional evaluation of the child that day, the instructor

works on emotional realization where he/she puts index cards around the arena and the

children have to steer, stop and ask their horse to move forward to the index card they

relate with. Ending the session using grounding techniques and had daily homework

where they would record what would be anxiety-provoking outside of sessions so they

could work on those skills in the therapy sessions (Acri et al., 2021). The study was

seen to be successful as the children were able to take away coping skills and have

anxiety reduction in their environment, better communication skills, and confidence.

Through helping troubled teens, PTSD patients, and children, Equine therapy

has become a vital part of healthcare. The non-judgmental environment that was

created and the mental health coaches work together to keep the safety and health of

riders as a number one priority. Regardless of age or disability, there are very positive

results for taking an Equine Assisted therapy program.

Acri, M., Morrissey, M., Peth-Pierce, R., Seibel, L., Seag, D., Hamovitch, E. K., Guo, F.,

Horwitz, S., & Hoagwood, K. E. (2021). An Equine-Assisted Therapy for Youth

with Mild to Moderate Anxiety: Manual Development and Fidelity. Journal of

Child and Family Studies, 30(10), 2461–2467.

[Link]

Burgon, H., Gammage, D., & Hebden, J. (2018). Hoofbeats and heartbeats: equine-

assisted therapy and learning with young people with psychosocial issues -

theory and practice. Journal of Social Work Practice, 32(1), 3–16.

[Link]

Rosing, T., Malka, M., Brafman, D., & Fisher, P. W. (2022). A qualitative study of

equine‐assisted therapy for Israeli military and police veterans with PTSD—

impact on self‐regulation, bonding and hope. Health & Social Care in the

Community, 30(6), e5074–e5082.

[Link]

Ward, J., Hovey, A., & Brownlee, K. (2022). Mental health benefits of mounted equine‐

assisted therapies: A scoping review. Health & Social Care in the Community,

30(6), e4920–e4935.

[Link]