Equine therapy, or therapy through working with horses, is growing in popularity as a way of combatting the stresses that come from addiction recovery. While originally popular among celebrities, equine therapy is now a part of many residential treatment facilities. Working with horses is all about building trust, and being dependable. Going through recovery can help improve these skills, so working with sensitive animals like horses can often be very helpful for recovering addicts. Additionally, working with horses can relieve stress and help with other anxiety disorders. If you are interested in trying equine therapy, there are many facilities that provide this service, as well as private barns. You can also investigate other forms of animal therapy as well.
Equine Therapy for Addiction: Healing with Animals
What is It?
Equine therapy isn’t just riding horses, it also involves a lot of hard work. You’ll also participate in other activities that build trust with the horse like walking it, feeding it, grooming, and helping with caring for it. If you have never had any experience with horses, that’s perfectly fine. Most facilities will offer beginner instruction. You don’t even have to ride the horse if you aren’t comfortable, you can still receive the anxiety-reducing benefits just by being around them and caring for them.
How Does it Help with Addiction?
Horses are very sensitive creatures, and working with them requires both the horse and the handler to have enormous trust in one another. You have to be dependable and responsible to build up that trust. Additionally, you’ll have to be assertive and self-confident. Working on these skills is very helpful for people recovering from drug or alcohol abuse. Equine therapy allows you to work on communication skills, focus, and confidence. Additionally, riding and working with animals in general has huge benefits for reducing stress and anxiety.
Where to Participate
Equine therapy is becoming more and more popular. Many rehabilitation facilities offer this form of therapy to their residents. There are also equine facilities that specialize in treatment for a number of disorders. Even private barns sometimes allow for therapy sessions. Investigate whether or not your insurance might cover some of the costs, as this form of therapy can be expensive.
Other Types of Animal Therapy
In addition to addiction, equine therapy can also be helpful with a number of other anxiety conditions like ADHD, PTSD, and even eating disorders. It can be helpful for children as well as adults. However, for some, being around such large animals can be intimidating and actually add to their stress. If this is the case, you might want to investigate other forms of pet therapy. For example, therapy dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, or even pigs.
Equine therapy can be very helpful for a number of anxiety issues, including with addiction recovery. Working with animals requires important skills like trust-building, confidence, assertiveness, dependability, and focus. Improving these skills can greatly help with your recovery journey. While a lot of horse therapy involves riding horses, you can also be involved simply by petting them, feeding, grooming, or generally caring for them. Other forms of pet therapy can also be helpful in reducing anxiety during recovery. If you are interested, investigate local rehabilitation centers to see if they offer this form of treatment. Hopefully, you can find an equine therapy facility near you that will be a big support during your recovery process.
