|
MAPLE PARK, Ill., -- Three horses trotted, kicking up clouds
of dust in the enclosed arena, as men and women took turns
directing them into designated “pockets.”
They worked
in pairs, each time trying a new method. Some clapped.
Others stomped or whistled or grabbed a long pole to direct
the horses. Others were subtler, going in for a whisper
instead.
Sometimes, just when the horse looked ready
to obey, it dug a hoof into the dirt and ran circles like it
owned the game.
Yet, this game wasn't about taking
command or conquering beast. Though the players were former
military, victory mattered less than the process itself.
Obom Bowen, former Marine now living in Atlanta, tries to corral
horses as part of an equine assisted therapy session during the
week-long Boots and Hooves pilot program held in March at the
Promise Equestrian Center in Maple Park, Ill., March 20, 2014. (U.S.
Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret) |
“It's all about group work and pulling together as a team.
And realizing that your biggest resource coming back in the
civilian life is each other,” said Susan Koestler, a
therapist who is certified in equine assisted psychotherapy
(EAP).
Koestler was asked to design the therapy
program for Boots and Hooves, a five-day camp hosted
specifically for veterans at the Promise Equestrian Center
in Maple Park, Ill.
“There is such a need for
programs like ours to provide some type of outreach and
assistance,” said Jerry Paulsen, a former special forces
Soldier, veteran business owner and cofounder of Boots and
Hooves, a nonprofit.
He, along with partners Matt
Ruddick, Gary Kempiak and Dan Negal, came up with the idea
just ten months ago. This March they kicked off the pilot
program for what they envision to run year-round and help
hundreds of veterans, regardless of prior service or
hometown.
Army, Navy and Marine veterans from five
different states come to participate in this pilot. It cost
the four founders more than $40,000 just to get this pilot
going. In the future, they hope to find sponsors for
veterans and raise money through a series of farm concerts.
“We're definitely not doing this to make money,” said
Ruddick. “I've always wanted to do something to try and give
back (to veterans) ... the little bit that I can to tell them
thank you.
”Horses have been used as therapeutic aid since the time of
ancient Greeks. Therapeutic riding dates back to the 17th
century, but this is different.
EAP is often used
with troubled youth to promote self-awareness and self
esteem. It helps patients build confidence, communication,
trust, expand perspective, impulse control and improve
social skills. Patients generally learn horse care,
grooming, saddling and horse riding.
“They're
learning more about themselves through the horses,” said
Shannon O'Grady, an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel with the
local 416th Theater Engineer Command and one of 30
volunteers for the pilot program.
“Horses give
immediate and honest feedback based on how they approach
them, and it's something they hadn't had before. It's
something that unless you've known horses before, they don't
understand (it until) they start to realize it,” said
O'Grady, who owns two horses herself: a Morgan and a Paint.
Horses help people bring their guard down, open up more,
said Koestler. In therapy, they serve as metaphors and
powerful stand-ins for the people, issues and challenges
patients face in their lives. Their intimidating sizes can
reach up to 2,500 pounds. Learning to trust such a large
animal requires patience, skill and confidence.
Boots
and Hooves aims to help those with post traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), moral injury, emotional or sexual trauma
and physical disabilities.
Recent statistics show
that 22 veterans take their own life through suicide each
day. There are 58,000 homeless veterans on any given night
across the U.S., and 1.4 million more are considered at risk
due to poverty, lack of support networks or dismal living
conditions. Seventy percent of homeless veterans struggle
with substance abuse.
There are currently 4.6 million
military veterans living across the Midwest, 745,000 in the
state of Illinois alone.
Very few programs use horses
to help veterans heal. In the Midwest, there are EAP
programs in Minneapolis and northern Michigan specifically
designed for military, but each is at least five hours
driving form the greater Chicago area, one of the largest
metropolitan areas in the country.
Not only is Boots
and Hooves closer, but it's unlike any other program out
there.
To begin, the camp is five days long, running
from morning to evening, while most others run for only a
day or a weekend. It provides lodging, meals and family
members are allowed to come and receive counseling if they
want. Plus EAP is just the beginning. Koestler designed the
program to include group sessions in the afternoon and
expressive therapy in the evening. Six hours of total
therapy time each day.
“That's like getting two
years' worth of therapy in one week,” said Obom Bowen, who
flew in from Atlanta with his wife Ana to participate.
Bowen served 16 years with the Marine Corps when an
injury in Iraq paralyzed him for nine months. When the
military discharged him, he was homeless for two years. Now
he runs a successful business, but has been going through
therapy for seven years.
“This is way cool,” he said of the experience.
“It's
like you're in the ultimate outdoor vacation. With (horse)
poop,” he joked.
In between therapy sessions, the
eight participants also worked to rebuild one of the arena
fences, cleaned horse stalls, jack-hammered a concrete
pavement and scooped horse poop. Each participant had a
choice in the labor, but they all dug in because it gave
them a sense of purpose.
“Oh, I built a fence. I'm a
cowboy now,” Bowen said, flexing his muscles jokingly. “I
even got boots. With sweat pants.”
Each veteran in
the pilot program had a different level of experience.
Larissa Dianovsky, a former Illinois National Guard Soldier,
originally found the animals intimidating.
“You're
big and scary, and that's kind of how the world is to me
right now,” she said.
Meanwhile, Shane Wilkinson, an
Army recruiter for the Chicago Battalion, used to ride a
horse to school in Oklahoma when he was six. He's been going
to weekly counseling on his own to deal with the
sleeplessness and anger caused by PTSD, but has never gone
through this kind of therapy before.
“I wish my
weekly counselor had a horse in the office with us,” he
said.
Boots and Hooves is intensive. It's not meant
to solve every veteran's struggles in five days. It gives
them therapy skills that are bigger than the horses that at
first looked so huge.
“I just don't want to be scared anymore,” said Dianovsky.
More photos available below
By USMC Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
Comment on this article
|
