Horse Therapy.

Elsbells

Elsbells

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Paris Jackson is being treated for mental health issues using horse therapy on a ranch in Utah, this is due to her attempted suicide back in June and its thought the involvement she has with the horses such as the grooming and general management will help her to reconect with the world and recover. It seems her mother is a horse breeder and there is a possibility that she go and live with her on her ranch when she's well enough.

http://www.horseandcountry.tv/news/2013/10/08/horse-therapy-troubled-paris-jackson

Horses are great therapy theres no doubt and we've all had times where only the horses can heal. Lets hope this poor kid gets some benefit and some kind of normal life if that's possible?

I'd like to hear your stories:)
 
I started riding two years ago having always wanted to ride and loving horses but never did anything about it. At the time I had been feeling quite low but didn't want to acknowledge this or do anything about it. My weekly lesson became the main event in my life. Once on the horse you have to leave the baggage of everyday life aside and be with the horse. The big change came when I was moved on to a very tense horse who needed me to be calm and reassuring and relaxed. The anxiety in me recognised the anxiety in him and I would spend so much time keeping him calm that by the end of the lesson I'd be totally relaxed as well. In June I did a Masterson Method course. I am now in a position to give something back and my very sensitive favourite horse now gets the full benefit because I will spend time with him each week and do some basic work on him. He's started to stick his nose in my face and starts chewing when I go to him. This, I think, is his way of asking me to do his neck. He's helped me so much that I am more than happy to repay him by easing some of his tensions. So overall I didn't start riding as a therapy as such but that is very much what it turned out to be for me.
 
I used to work at a livery yard and one of the liveries had a good friend who had suffered a major breakdown and hadnt been out the house in months, she persuaded her to cometo the yard one day and we let her fuss and groom one of the older quiet ponies, she loved it and gradually started to come out of her shell.

It was an amazing process of healing to watch each time she visited. She now has her own horses and retrained as a horse physio :)
 
I was really surprised to suffer from post-natal anxiety with my first child. Not something I had expected at all, but I had a really tough pregnancy and birth. It was only seeing my horse that really got me out of the house, and he was on loan so it wasn't every day. One of the first things the health-care professionals got me to do was spend more time with my horse, and they and my husband pretty much MADE me get back on him despite me not wanting to bother! I don't think my horse knew that I wasn't in such a good place as such, but spending time with him really helped and he was good as gold to ride (he can be very cheeky when he wants) despite me being so unfit. It was just good to spend time with 'someone' who didn't ask questions or judge or even try to help. He was just there for me and he gave me a lot of pleasure at a time when I wasn't very happy! He made me forget about the stuff that I was worrying about, it was like giving my brain a rest. Having owned him for 5 years, initially having awful problems with him, it was a lovely way that he could sort of 'pay me back', and it proved to me that he IS a special horse.
 
I too had post natal anxiety / depression. Only mild I thought but totally related to my life totally changing. I thought it was due to my change in responsibility and I really struggled going back to work coping with the stresses of my job (I'm a physio running a service looking after about 400 ventilated people). The responsibility of this was too much as i kept rhinking if i miss something someone could die and I started looking at other jobs, but to earn enough all the jobs I'm qualified for were in equally stressful situations.

My oh encouraged me to try to find a share horse, as I've ridden all my life but stopped when pregnant. After a couple of trials that didn't work out I'm now sharing my friends horse and manage to ride a few times a week.

It's like flicking a switch. I'm me again and I've got my mojo back in all aspects of my life. Home, work, everything. The mare I ride is quite stressey and needs a calm approach but she has this levelling effect on me. I just need to stand on the yard and any worries just melt away and I can see clearly. To totally switch off when schooling is amazing, but the social aspect is totally different too. Went hacking with my friend (who i know through work) who someone who gets me and what riding means to me. We had a total bitch about work and its just so different to do that from the back if a horse. I realised that I'm happy and the past 18 months I haven't felt that at all.

Horses are a piece of me and I'm not me without them!!!
 
atlantis said:
OMG that's an essay sorry. TrasaM you should try Equine Touch if you get the chance. The calming effect it has on me is almost equal to the effect it has in the horses!!!
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We still need to arrange a meet up to compare therapies lol. :) I'm in need of healing myself still but getting better with help from acupuncture and massage.
 
I got very depressed at the end of 2011 and spent the majority of 2012 in my bedroom, and not even exaggerating when I say I wouldn't leave my house for weeks at a time. After moving in with my dad, my mum had gotten rid of my ponies and dogs, so therefore I had nothing to concentrate/think about other than how depressed I was and how difficult everything is. I went through a lot of things before my dad came to the realisation that maybe horses would help me, and I got my mare this april, after over a year of not touching a horse. I found her myself, arranged the viewings myself after various panic attacks and cancelled viewings, and she was exactly what I was looking for. It's been 6 months and there still has been times when I ask myself what the point is, but people continuously tell me how much better I am, and I definitely think its because of Juno:) Because of her I go out now, I can talk to strangers without ending up in tears 90% of the time and I'm now going to my first hunter trials this weekend with her! She makes me so happy, and gives me something to focus on:) Horse therapy definitely works, and it worked for me.
 
atlantis said:
Of course after your fall. How are you doing? Riding again yet?
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I had a somewhat painful riding lesson last week but was a lot easier this week. Least my confidence seems intact. I've not ridden share horse yet though. My arm doesn't quite allow a fast dismount yet and I think I'd feel happier knowing I can jump off quickly :)
 
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