By Jeff Troth, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity -- Fort Carson PAO
FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Horses live in the moment, and they are helping Soldiers to do the same.
Equine therapy is giving Fort Carson Soldiers an additional tool to overcome behavioral health issues.
"This program helps Soldiers with conditions such as (post-traumatic stress disorder), depression, anxiety or personality disorders," said Dr. Kelly Moss, a clinical psychologist at Evans Army Community Hospital's Embedded Behavioral Health Team Aviation. "It gives those who have difficulty connecting with their emotions a way to connect with themselves and develop self-esteem. (It also) helps them process their thoughts, feelings and emotions."
Moss said horses are a good tool to help Soldiers with PTSD or another type of trauma since both are aware of their surroundings.
"Horses are prey animals that are always hyper vigilant about their environment and what is going on around them, because the most important thing to a horse is its safety," Moss said. "They are not focused on what happened to them three minutes ago or what might happen in the future. Horses live in the moment because any moment there might be a threat, (such as) a mountain lion, and the only way they can defend themselves is to run."
A lot of the Soldiers enrolled in equine therapy can relate to flight response.
"The horses mirror what I am going through. If I have a lot of stress, they can feel it," said "John," an equine therapy participant and Soldier who has deployed twice to Afghanistan, whose name was withheld to protect his privacy. "If you approach the horse and you are stressed out or angry, the horse is going to reflect that. They are going to get anxiety issues, and they are going to get flustered and move away from you."
Because horses are so hyper vigilant, they are sensitive to human emotions, Moss said.
"That is why we use horses as that median to help the Soldiers process the emotions that are going on within them," she said. "So if the horse is moving away that allows me as a therapist to say 'Gosh I know that the horse moved away as you approached it, I wonder what is going on, how are you feeling.'"
This instant feedback is something Moss said she cannot get from a regular therapy session held in an office. At those sessions she gives her patients "homework" on what to do when they get angry.
"With equine therapy, I can see if they get angry and point out how the horse is responding to them and suggest things they can do right then to lower their anger," said Moss. "I can have them do that right then, and you can get so much more done in the moment, which makes it so much more effective."
During the equine sessions, Soldiers are taught the proper way to approach the horse and the do's and don'ts of being around a horse.
"When I was walking the horse it could tell that my back was hurting me so it took it easier on me, compared with the other Soldiers that don't have injuries," said John, who has a back injury and is also diagnosed with anger issues, anxiety and depression. "Equine therapy keeps you engaged with an activity which keeps your mind from wandering back to a combat zone. If you are not thinking about that moment -- you and the horse, an animal that is a lot bigger than you -- one or both of you can get hurt."
Moss said that the equine therapy sessions would not be possible without the support EACH gets from Pikes Peak Therapeutic Riding Center (PPTRC), which provides equine-assisted activities to individuals facing physical, cognitive, emotional, behavioral and learning challenges.
"It is a natural partnership to put individuals with PTSD or struggling with other challenges with a horse," said Kim Bennett, a PPTRC instructor. "Horses are hyper vigilant and a lot of these guys and girls are struggling with that and they can relate to the horse and how it can always be hyper vigilant. The Soldiers learn skills to manage it, and learn to live in the present like the horses do. Horses are not worried about yesterday or tomorrow, they are right here, right now."
John has taken his new learned horse skills and turned them into human interaction skills.
"Equine therapy helps us realize what we are doing with the horses, and how we should approach others in our lives," said John. "If you approach a horse with a lot of pressure (it is) going to react to that pressure, the same is true when approaching humans. Don't be angry when you are talking to someone, be more relaxed and you will get a better response from them."
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