Equine therapy bringing ‘peace and calm’ in the face of Bow Valley mental health struggles

Bow Valley Equine Adaptive volunteer Heidi Ward helps Prairie the horse get used to a ball during horse assessments at YMCA Camp Chief Hector in Kananaskis Country on Friday (May 9). (RMO PHOTO/Leah Pelletier)

KANANASKIS – It’s a kind of therapy that requires no talking.

That’s one of the ways Paula Macdonald, chairperson of Bow Valley Equine Adaptive (BVEA), describes therapeutic horseback riding and horsemanship.

“When you sit in the saddle, it’s over top of the heart, so the heart rate of a horse will connect with yours,” said Macdonald.

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“If somebody is feeling anxious, the horse will feel it, but typically your heart rate will come down.”

Through therapeutic horsemanship and riding programs, the local non-profit, formerly known as Rundle Riders, exposes participants with varying physical, emotional or cognitive challenges to the benefits of working with horses.

The heart of the grassroots organization is to facilitate connections between horses and participants of all ages and abilities – whether living with or without a formal diagnosis.

“Being able to work with a horse, guide a horse and ride a horse is a huge confidence booster and we’ve seen that with a lot of participants,” said Macdonald.

“The idea is that you go away with some calm and some peace.”

With the support of volunteers and certified therapeutic riding instructor Jenny Clarys, participants set their own goals based on their unique needs.

For some, it’s a physical goal of improving balance or core strength through riding. For others, it’s social, making friends or connecting with a like-minded community, according to Macdonald.

“We’ve had high school students come who are really struggling socially and emotionally.”

“[The horses] meet you where you’re at.”

Whether it’s brushing a horse or leading one through the arena, Macdonald says, “you have to be focused on what’s happening in the moment.”

Going into her second year of the program, 11-year-old Matilda Whelan has found confidence, friendship and independence through her involvement in equine therapy, according to her parents, Sean and Fortune Whelan.

Paired up with Cowboy, a 24-year-old gelding, Matilda recalls her first time in the saddle.

“The first time I rode him there, it just felt amazing. It felt like nothing else in the world mattered at that point because I was just so happy that I was there,” said Matilda.

And this connection often goes both ways.

“It’s not just like you ride them and then you go home. You make a really good connection with them, and you get to do fun exercises with them to get to know [the horses] too,” she said.

Macdonald tells another story of a young boy in the program with sensory challenges, who struggled with the highway noise near the riding arena.

“He had to wear noise-cancelling headphones and he would sometimes yell. The horse was always super calm with him, [he] never flinched with the noise,” she said.

“The last day of lessons, the family was thanking us and saying goodbye … they went to walk away, and the horse started to pull and wanted to follow. The horse had decided that that was a person for him,” said Macdonald.

“It’s nice to see any difference like that.”

Through partnerships with Camp Chief Hector, the Bow Valley Riding Association and the Banff Light Horse Association, the BVEA is able to operate programs beginning in May and running into early October before horses are taken out to pasture for the winter.

Focused on keeping the programs accessible to everyone across the Bow Valley, Macdonald said, “All of our programs are kept affordable. We want to keep the financial barrier really low.”

The BVEA is among several local organizations rising to address mental wellness in the community.

Lori Bayne, chair of the Banff Mental Health and Addiction Week (BMHAW), says the challenges aren’t partial to one demographic in the Bow Valley.

“It hits everybody. It hits locals. It hits seniors.”

Having run for the second time this year from May 4-9, BMHAW is designed to raise awareness about mental health struggles in the Bow Valley, working to break the stigma and rally community support.

BVEA took part in the awareness week for the first time this year, holding the “Connect with a Horse” event for the public to come and interact with a horse at the Sundance Park grounds in Banff.

Bayne also noted that the healthcare system isn’t always the answer for those who are struggling.

 “Healthcare can only do one thing and it’s all put into a big structure and box. What people need are humans. It’s human interaction that gets people through … you need multiple ways to reach people. One solution doesn’t work out for everyone,” she said.

“Having this diversity of ways that people can [get] help along their journey is really important.”

BVEA was one of 55 local programs that took part in the awareness week, more than double the number of programs from last year, according to Bayne.

“Equine therapy is just really in my heart. Animals are so healing and this organization … is so passionate around helping those with disabilities. I just wanted to really help and get that word out,” she said.

To register for a program visit: bvea.ca.