The Healing Power of Horses
Farms nurture us — it’s just what they do. Most farms support our physical growth with the good food they produce. But some farms nurture our emotional, cognitive and even spiritual growth by feeding much more than our bodies. Therapeutic horse farms are just such places: they feed our souls.
The immense need for this nurturing is clear from the many therapeutic horse farms popping up across Canada. But there’s a very special place in Langley that’s been doing this life-changing work since 1983: Valley Therapeutic Equestrian Association.
Like most therapeutic horse farms, Valley offers people with physical and/or cognitive challenges the support they need through medically approved therapeutic horseback riding and hippotherapy treatments. That’s how it all began. Three programs at Valley directly address these needs: Hippotherapy, Therapeutic Riding and the Seniors’ Program.
Unlike most other facilities, Valley also provides three additional programs for people who don’t ride but can still benefit from interacting with horses. There’s Equine Assisted Learning, Equine Facilitated Wellness and Counselling and one that launched during the pandemic for the people who needed it most: the Front Line Heroes.
Finally, like the capstone above it all, there’s also the mentorship program for prospective new therapeutic riding instructors — to keep the whole operation going. The variety and specialized focus of these seven programs practically guarantee that everyone who comes to Valley for help leaves feeling better than when they arrived.
Lynn Moseley, the president of Valley Therapeutic Equestrian Association, describes one of the nuances underlying the horse- human relationship: heart coupling. “We know that horses in the wild synchronize their heartbeats so the herd is able to sense danger more quickly. Studies have shown that horses do the same in domesticity. Their heartbeats actually synchronize to the person they're working with. The connection is just incredible, and it's on a level that you almost can't put into words. I hesitate to use the word magic — I’m a very logical person. But it feels like magic, and so many of the outcomes we see here appear magical.”
Moseley was distressed when Valley clients were cut off from this “magic” at the beginning of the pandemic. Therapeutic riding centres were deemed non-essential, despite the demonstrable medical benefits they bestow on so many clients, so Valley was forced to close its doors. With their revenue stream shut off when lessons stopped, she also feared that the shut-down could cause permanent closure; the horses still needed to be fed and cared for despite the pandemic, so operating expenses remained the same.
Launching the Front Line Heroes program ultimately solved the problem, but its beginnings arose from concern for front line workers and the echo pandemic of mental health issues they suffered, rather than from a strategy session about how to find revenue.
“A very generous sponsor came forward to provide sessions for free to the front liners,” Moseley explains. “So it was something that, first of all, was a huge help to a segment of society that really needed it. And secondly, it was a revenue model for us to keep going. There was no profit in this at all. We had to feed our horses. We’re a non-profit organization, but we do need to cover our expenses.”
Besides relief that their operating costs would be somewhat neutralized, Moseley and the staff at Valley were confident the Front Line Heroes program would benefit these new clients. What nobody anticipated though was how this creative solution would actually lead to more growth.
Valley added Equine Facilitated Counseling in response to the incredible impact of Front Line Heroes. The most recent addition to Valley’s stable of programming, this program uses traditional talk therapy techniques while clients simultaneously interact with a horse they’ve chosen themselves as the perfect match.
Janette Carr manages the Equine Facilitated Wellness Program (which includes Equine Facilitated Counseling and Equine Facilitated Learning), bringing her expertise as a senior instructor at Valley to the tasks involved. As a registered clinical social worker with her masters of social work degree, Carr uses her experience of supporting health and mental health to develop solution-focused, task-centred interventions for clients at Valley.
According to Carol Jenne, administrator of Valley since 2019, the facility now serves approximately 120 clients ranging from three to 80 years of age. This increase in the number and range of people finding relief at Valley occurred in direct response to operating restrictions imposed by COVID-19 public health policies, and it’s a welcome silver lining of an otherwise challenging time.
“Who would have thought the pandemic would be our biggestgrowth time ever?” ponders Moseley, who had been at the helm mere weeks before COVID-19 changed everything. “And now we're reaching out even more into the community. Now it's not just front liners. It's anyone who needs help — counseling or a wellness session. And now we're also partnering with First Nations Health Authority. More recently, we’ve started working with Indigenous clients. We're really broadening our scope and our reach.”
This flexible approach to meeting clients’ needs is “what Valley is all about,” says Moseley with pride. “We meet every client exactly where they are and go from there.”
One of Valley’s most established programs, hippotherapy, involves a different kind of f lexibility. According to the Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association, “In hippotherapy, the rider does not influence the horse but rather the movement of the horse stimulates postural and muscular reactions on the rider.” It’s a medical treatment with specific goals that are quantifiably assessed and measured.
Pippa Hodge, co-founder of Valley in 1983, is a physiotherapist who practises hippotherapy with clients. She was inspired to develop the Seniors’ Program — one of Valley’s most recent additions — after reading about a research project in Japan that reported improved balance after seniors were exposed to the multidimensional movement of the horse. She launched the program in 2020. Since then, Hodge has been involved in “conducting a pilot study on the use of equine movement in seniors’ balance.” After “presenting our findings at the American Hippotherapy Association conference in Denver, Colorado, earlier this year,” Hodge intends to continue the pilot study in September.
Hippotherapy and therapeutic riding can facilitate similarly powerful outcomes, but therapeutic riding is not a formal medical treatment. Rather, it’s recreational horseback riding adapted to be accessible for riders with physical and/or cognitive challenges.
Julie Matjiw began as a volunteer with Valley 23 years ago and is now the Therapeutic Riding Program Manager. She “quickly realized how amazing it is and fell in love.”
With more than two decades at the facility, she has the opportunity to observe incredible changes in clients over the years. One client “that really stands out” for her was wheelchair bound and unable to sit independently when he began therapeutic riding at Valley at the age of six. Initially, his program included “a lot of stops and starts to engage core muscles.” Through the guidance and support therapeutic riding provides — along with a hearty dose of his own unstoppable determination — he eventually developed the ability to “sit tall,” and finally progressed to the point that “he could hold his reins, steer and stop his horse and required only a thigh hold.” Matjiw recalls that riding through the forest trails was one of his favourite things, and he “always just wanted to stop, take in all the sounds and look at the trees.”
These trails are one of Valley’s most unique and exceptional assets.
“We have a mile and a half of trails,” Moseley explains. “It’s a chance for people to get out in nature. These settings are especially good for speech-language pathology, because conversations arise naturally when the instructor and client chat about what they see along the trails. As well, there are grades and inclines that provide a very different physical experience from our flat indoor arena.”
It's easy to understand why Matjiw exclaims, “Being a therapeutic riding instructor isn’t a job. It’s a huge pleasure, and an honour to work with all these amazing people. I absolutely love it.”
Like Matjiw, Moseley also loves her work for Valley. “The joy on the client's face — to me that’s the whole reason we do what we do. To see them come out of their sessions with that smile on their face, or the joy when they first arrive and see the horses, that's what it’s all about. We're making a difference.”
This appreciation is shared by Joni Fast, who is training to be a therapeutic riding instructor through Valley’s Mentorship program. She is “incredibly thankful to be part of the Valley team and able to deliver such great support that is so important to the development of our clients.” She’s thankful to be there, and Valley is thankful that she’s there.
Next year, Valley Therapeutic Equestrian Association celebrates its 40th anniversary. Although planning hasn’t formally begun, Moseley offers a sneak peek into the spirit of the event: “the celebrations will be fitting of an organization that has survived many, many challenges over the years. We wouldn’t be where we are today without our volunteers; Valley is a volunteer-run organization. We’ll celebrate not only our perseverance but also those who made it all happen.”
Valley Therapeutic Equestrian Association
3330-256th St., Langley, B.C.
vtea.ca | 604.857.1267 | @valley.therapeutic
