What is Horse Therapy?
CALL US AT: (814) 574-9942
When people think about therapy, most picture a grey-haired psychiatrist with a clipboard and a couch. For people who are suffering from depression, bi-polar disorder, autism, PTSD or a number of other serious maladies, that thought offers little comfort. Wildfire Ranch's owner Cynthia Sweeley has 15 years experience conducting equine therapy with life-changing results. By interacting with the horses, visitors to Wildfire Ranch can open themselves up to new possibilities.
Wildfire Ranch’s horses have undergone extensive preparation for their role in therapy. Before engaging with guests, they train for hours in ground exercises that teach them to show respect toward the humans as “leaders of the herd.” Trainers implement gentle training techniques that involve praising the horses during times of excellence and removing praise during times of disobedience. While the training prepares the horses to perform as expected, we believe that part of the thrill of working with horses comes from the fact that they are living creatures and each possesses a unique personality.“Horse therapy shows people that they are just existing, not living. Horses can pick up on your emotions even if you don’t feel them.”Because this intuitive nature, head trainer Cynthia Amnell believes that at least 90 percent of horse therapy at Wildfire Ranch has an extreme impact on people’s lives. When guests arrive at the ranch for their first therapy session, they are often suppressing their emotions. Because of horses’s natural instincts as prey animals, they have a special way of sensing how other living beings are feeling and behaving. This natural behavior leads a horse to mirror the emotions that are locked deep inside the person they are working with. We believe that this phenomenon helps people to understand the feelings they have been masking, and opens the door to healing.
$65/hour session or $300/5 session package.
While traditional horse therapy focuses on people whose injuries at physical, at Wildfire Ranch we specialize in healing wounds of a less tangible nature. As the above testimonial from an Iraq War veteran who suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggests, the emotional therapy that Wildfire Ranch offers has the potential to transform lives. Our horses work with those suffering from depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, autism, bipolar disorder, suicidal thoughts, rage, and other emotional hardships.
Why Horses?
Equine-assisted therapy is an emerging treatment method with scientific studies proving dramatic success using horses to heal humans of mental and emotional pain. The horsesandhumans.org research company is just one of nearly one-hundred sites that prove up to 80% improvements in adults and children suffering from depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder and other illnesses.
The path to healing begins with understanding. By their very nature, horses provide the perfect way to learn what problems people might hide from everyone around them -- even themselves.
For thousands of years, horses have honed their instincts as prey animals. These senses allow them to detect the emotions and intent of everything around them, up to and including humans. When a visitor to Wildfire Ranch interacts with a horse in a therapeutic setting, the horses begin to unmask the hidden emotions and difficulties that might not be so easy to see.
The insight that horses offer provides a unique window into the human experience. Combined with the powerful, calming experience that is horse therapy, many people find their lives changed.
Regular therapy with horses produces increased self-confidence, happiness and awareness of power and self-control even more than dog and cat therapy. At Wildfire Ranch we firmly believe that God works through our horses to produce supernatural healing for our guests. The horses unmask deep emotional problems with their remarkable senses and then mirror that 'diagnosis' back to the human with their behavior.
$65/hour session or $300/5 session package.
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What to Expect
Our guests are first introduced to the horses and matched to the one of their choice. Exercises include brushing, saddling, leading a horse by rope, commanding a horse to back, turn and jog; feeding and caring for the horse, understanding horse behavior and finally, riding the horse in our outdoor arena and even out on mountain trails. Our exercises are exactly the same as those used by the famous Horses Helping Heroes using horses to help veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome. Breaks are taken during which time teaching is provided on the healing power of horses as well as the healing power of God.
$65/hour session or $300/5 session package.
