Hope and Cisco showing some love.
I’m generally not a horse person, but last summer that changed. My wife and I discovered an amazing place in Taos, NM called Equine Spirit Sanctuary (ESS) . There, I got to experience first-hand the power of the horse. I know this will sound strange—when I first put my hands on a particular young horse aptly named “Hope” I felt an “electricity” I can’t explain, the feeling stayed with me for the rest of the day. By the way, Hope is a rescue horse that was attacked by wild dogs as a baby, she wasn’t supposed to make it. But through the loving care of Ruth, the woman who runs ESS, she is now a relatively healthy proud princess. As the horses heal, so do the people. Working with horses to help heal and facilitate growth has been an accepted practice for many years now. People with autism and Asperger’s find a way to calm their often overwhelmed sensory system to improve functioning. One autistic young man I recently spoke with said that working with the horse helped him to establish empathy. He said that he needed to be attuned at all moments to the needs and temperament of the horse. Many people say that autistic people lack empathy—this is not true! In addition, Equine Assisted Psychotherapy can be a powerful way for people with PTSD to heal. Whether these are veterans of war or victims of domestic violence, working with horses can provide a calming and safe space for healing. These folks have said that a horse was the first “person” they could trust. How all of this happens is yet to be scientifically explained for the most part, but it does seem to work. I was in a workshop recently where the issue of scientific proof came up. I found myself saying, “You can’t measure magic!”. I don’t know how scientific that statement was, but it seemed to fit.