July/August 2006 Alternative Health
Horse Therapy Heals Trauma

by Linda L. Shannon 

Increasingly horses are becoming trauma healers through the fast growing profession of equine assisted psychotherapy, which has exploded in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Trauma creates a multifaceted journey to healing—it’s a biological, psychological, social and spiritual disease seeking wholeness. From a mythological viewpoint, healing trauma is like the hero’s journey, for in order to heal, one must be willing to descend into the pain in order to ascend back to life.

More than 75 percent of the population will experience some type of trauma in their lifetime. Trauma can come from natural disasters, freak and tragic accidents, family violence, loss, social polices or world conflict. It is not whether a person has a predisposition to trauma or a biological illness, rather it is the experience of the trauma and the resulting presence of social support that determines healing

I created a trauma healing program outlined in Magical Path to Wholeness: Healing Trauma with Horses using my equine assisted psychotherapy practice to help those I knew also suffered from the effects of unresolved trauma. After trauma, the body’s fight or flight mechanism stays on, causing the hypervigilance and hyperawareness that survivors experience.

Horses are perfect for this work because “Horses, by their very nature are paranoid victims waiting to happen,” according to Chris Irwin, a national trainer and author of Dancing with Your Dark Horse. Horses are prey animals, humans are predators. When predator and prey can come together with a sense of trust and safety, a healthy relationship can develop as both learn from each other.

When horses “speak,” their minds and bodies are in unity. You can tell how horses are feeling through their tails. If a tail is out and up and they are running around, their attitude is “Bring it on.” A tail that is tight and clamped shows fear. Soft and curled indicates the horse is relaxed. Horses move and communicate according to their physiology.

Using equine physiology, you work with the horse’s natural movement rather than against it by being aware of how you hold your body when in the horse’s presence—hips open to allow the horse in. You can engage horses in a healthy relationship by your willingness “to think horse, speak horse, play horse games by horse rules, to be the better horse,” says Irwin.

By willingly stepping into the world of the horse, you stop projecting your behavior onto the horse and anthropomorphizing it with human characteristics. In this way, you learn the value of true empathy.

The human part of this relationship must be willing to engage in what Irwin calls empathic control. For a trauma survivor, the word control can bring up a whole host of issues related to panic and anxiety because control issues in others may have caused the abuse. In this sense, control is about establishing boundaries, clear communication, and focusing and stating clearly your intention to the horse. This is done by your willingness to step into the horses’ experience and speak their language—the language of the body.

If you are willing to be the leader and take responsibility to keep the horse safe, the dynamics in the relationship change from one of mistrust to complete trust, where the horse feels better with the person than when alone. With this sense of trust, a truly magical partnership is created.

The psychological symptoms of trauma are normal adapters to an abnormal situation. The inability to control emotions is the most debilitating symptom as the emotions rage so fiercely. From a social point of view, in equine assisted psychotherapy we come together to assist each other in being heard as most of us feel we are alone in our pain. When we can recognize that others support us, we feel more ready to begin the healing journey. Also, we may feel lonely and vulnerable when we feel disconnected from a higher source. Once we can reconnect, we can begin our personal journey home. The majority of trauma healing focuses on learning about relationships—to ourselves and to others. Relationship skills can be enhanced through developing a trusting relationship with a horse.

Trauma is a part of life and the human dilemma. My hope is one day the majority of us can realize that we are responsible for the pain in the world, and we can stop the pain by taking the hero’s journey to heal our own inner traumas. Once we do this, we can begin to live life rather than escape life. As I give to my horses with clear communication for balance, they give back to me my own balance.

Linda L. Shannon, a licensed clinical social worker, has worked in the field of mental health for more than 19 years. At Nine Oak Ranch in Dallas, Ore., she helps people become whole by creating a healing relationship with nature and horses through equine assisted therapy. Visit www.nineoakranch.com