Horses Serving Military
by Donna Maglio

My two horses and I stood among twenty wounded combat veterans in the pouring rain, most of them twentysomethings.  I wore rain gear; they refused the yellow ponchos that were passed around.  The unfavorable weather conditions could not deter their intense determination to complete the task at hand.  After almost an hour of being pelted by the hard, cold drops, we found a way to transform a nearby tent into an adequate shelter to continue our workshop--but not before the veterans had succeeded in getting their designated horses to go over the obstacle in the middle of the arena. It was a jump and represented the need to find new employment due to medical discharge from their respective branches.  During this challenge, they were not permitted to talk to their teammates, touch the horses, or bribe them with food; the removal of these important tools represented the absence of some of their own tools as they returned to American soil.

“Adjust and adapt,” I was told by one young Marine.  And that is what we did in that moment and that is what these men do every day.  Especially those who have returned from combat as wounded warriors.

The American psychologist James Hillman once boldly stated, “The return from the killing fields is more than a debriefing; it is a slow ascent from hell.” As we are becoming more and more painfully aware, the transition servicemen and servicewomen must make from combat to daily life is a difficult one, especially for those who have experienced combat stress or trauma.  The challenges of psychologically injured servicemen and women can include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, addictions, grief, panic attacks, sleep disorders, and relationship issues, to name a few.

Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) is one therapeutic modality that has been successful in addressing this need.  It is a collaborative effort between a licensed mental health professional and an equine specialist to address a variety of treatment goals.  EAP is experiential in nature, in that horses and humans work together to complete a series of tasks.  Participants learn about themselves and others by engaging in these activities and then process the feelings, behaviors, and response patterns that emerge.  The focus of EAP is not riding or horsemanship; all activities take place on the ground, thus no prior horse experience is necessary.  This approach has been compared to the ropes courses used by therapists, treatment facilities, and human development organizations around the world. However, EAP has the added advantage of utilizing horses, dynamic and powerful living beings.

You may wonder why horses are the animal of choice.  Horses are large and powerful and communicate with each other through body language and voice.  As social animals, they have defined roles within their herds.  Just like people, they have distinct personalities. What works with one horse may not work with another.  This means that previously successful methods may not always work, and participants may need to adjust their approach for each animal.  This allows participants to discuss how they may need to adjust their approach in other life situations as well.  Horses require people to be engaged in physical and mental work, a valuable characteristic in all aspects of life.  Horses are also animals of prey, making them highly sensitive and attuned to their environment and highly aware of nonverbal aspects of communication. Participants must look more closely at their own nonverbal aspects of communication and how these can impact relationships and movement toward attaining goals.  Most important, horses are unbiased and honest, making them especially compelling messengers.

Specifically for military personnel, EAP can assist in the process of reconnecting with various aspects of themselves and their daily lives, whether returning to the private sector or remaining on active duty status and needing assistance in adjusting to families and communities again.  Some of the issues addressed include grief, communication, leadership, overcoming fears, regulation of impulses, managing intense emotion, and rebuilding a sense of trust and empowerment.

So as we wrapped up our final session on that bitter rainy day, I stood back from the group as they huddled comfortably around the horses and shared their feedback, and smiled to myself knowing that the real facilitators in that arena were the ones standing in the middle with four legs.

Donna Maglio, a licensed clinical social worker, is the owner of Trinity Psychotherapy, LLC.  She works with children, adolescents, adults, and families in her private practice in Chester, N.J.  Donna designed a program called Project Safe Horse to aid in the reintegration of our armed forces from battlefield to home front.  Her father, Tony Maglio, joins her in the arena to conduct these sessions.  Tony is the owner of Evergreen Acres Training Stables in Long Valley, N.J., and has spent over 40 years riding and training horses and instructing riders.  For the past ten years, Tony has also worked for the Morris County Juvenile Facility, initially as the training/operations supervisor and presently as the administration’s supervisor.  A former Marine who served in Vietnam, Tony has always made himself available as a mentor to his fellow military servicemen and servicewomen returning home from overseas conflicts.