Equine-Assisted Therapy Sessions
Emma Paden begins today’s session by outlining the measures visitors must take to ensure safe interactions with Jake, Mona, and any of the other horses and ponies taking part in the day’s activities. Beyond the safety measures, the class participants have mastered some of the finer points of grooming, handling, and leading. Since SUNY Cobleskill and Albany Stratton VA Medical Center launched a collaboration to bring Veterans to the College’s Equine Center for a weekly program, the number of participants has grown from two to closer to a dozen.
Paden, the College’s assistant equine manager, Associate Professor Marny Mansfield, and many student-volunteers are all on-hand from SUNY Cobleskill. An ever-expanding contingent from Stratton VA fills a bus from Albany each week for two hours of groundwork (unmounted) programming with the horses. The equine-assisted activity sessions include trust-building and equine communication exercises. As they learn about the horses, participants in many cases learn about themselves.
About the Program
SUNY Cobleskill received an innovative Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH Intl.) Equine Services for Heroes VA Direct Service Grant to commence new program on campus this spring. As those sessions wound down, the College struck an agreement with Stratton VA to form a partnership that would allow a group of Veterans to visit the College once a week, and, in effect, continue the program. The eager participation of students and staff followed shortly thereafter. Carolyn Nelson ’20 is one of those student-volunteers. A Veteran herself, Nelson made the decision to return to college to complete her four-year degree in 2017, after SUNY Cobleskill introduced its Bachelor of Technology in Therapeutic Horsemanship.
“I had experience working with children, and before that I had served in the military,” says Nelson. “After I came back to school, one of the questions that came up in class is ‘How can we help?’ Working with children is a common answer, and working with Veterans came up shortly after that. My question became ‘Why can’t this [type of] programming be more readily available?’” She says her goal is to apply her SUNY Cobleskill Therapeutic Horsemanship education and her background in leadership for the benefit of all with a “desire to learn.” She acknowledges that, given her background, she places particular emphasis on helping the Veteran population.
Nelson and several of the Veterans cite the program as a highlight of their week. Adam Halloran is a Veteran who is not only participating in the program, but also volunteering by providing peer support to other Veterans participating in the program. Adam says that in volunteering for the program, he can “show how great these therapies are – not just for Veterans.” He has always loved horses, and sees this not only as a great experience and a dream for himself, but also “beneficial for society as a whole.”
John is an Army Veteran, and has had some experience with horses in the past, but not as in-depth as in the SUNY Cobleskill program. “It is something I look forward to all week,” says John. “I’ve been coming for four weeks, and I’ve grown each week.”
Helping Veterans
Lyndsey Rhodes, RN, BSN, leads the group from Stratton VA. She says in some form or another, she has worked towards building and sustaining a program of this kind for years, getting one up and running in 2017. After completing a capstone project involving animal-assisted therapies and their benefits for Veterans living with PTSD, putting in the work to form a program, and reconnecting with Paden, things have taken shape at SUNY Cobleskill. Rhodes says she has seen a decrease in depression and anxiety symptoms among participating Veterans, in information collected via surveys, reflections, and one-on-one conversations.
The program, which was initially slated to run only through the spring, is helping the College widen its equine-assisted activities footprint. Paden is a fellow of the Institute for Rural Vitality at SUNY Cobleskill, working to bring equine-assisted activities to the surrounding communities through “The Pony Project.” This summer and fall she has travelled to area senior living facilities and preschools with Fuji, a Welsh pony who lives at the Equine Center. Mansfield, a PATH Intl. Master Certified Instructor, registered therapist, and evaluator, has been invited to speak at Path Intl.’s 50th anniversary conference and annual meeting November 8-10 in Denver. A link to this article is available here.
About SUNY Cobleskill:
With an emphasis on applied learning and experiential, interdisciplinary education, SUNY Cobleskill prepares students for successful careers, advanced studies, and engaged citizenship. An accredited, baccalaureate, residential college, SUNY Cobleskill fosters a rich academic tradition that spans more than 100 years. Today, students are enrolled in 58 baccalaureate and associate degree programs offered through two schools – The School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and The School of Business and Liberal Arts and Sciences. A contiguous farm, with an equestrian center and 200-cow dairy facility is housed on the modern, 902-acre campus, that features outstanding educational facilities including cold and warm water fish hatcheries, specialized classrooms and laboratories, two state-of-the-art culinary arts teaching kitchens, a student-run restaurant, child development and child care centers, and an art gallery and graphic design center. More information about SUNY Cobleskill can be found at Cobleskill.edu.
