How does one start healing from the trauma of trafficking? One of the things that helps the most is horses. The therapeutic effect of horses cannot be understated. Horses have a special ability to make you be totally in the moment, making dealing with trauma easier and less painful. The therapeutic effects come from learning to care for the horses, riding or simply being around and learning to trust the animals.
Research shows horses are acutely tuned in to human emotions, and accounts of their therapeutic impact abound. To see the joy on a young woman’s face when a horse allows her contact is a beautiful moment. When she conquers her fear and realizes that she can control something bigger than herself by riding a horse, the positive impact is far reaching. Horses teach us so much. If they sense danger, horses race to safety, then go right back to grazing. They don’t stay up all night worrying about lions. They go back to enjoying life, taking it minute by minute, and they teach us to do that. Somehow when we are with them we know everything is going to be okay. I think Robert Isaacson said it the best, “Horses lend you their power, which helps when you’re trying to heal. The moment you’re on a horse, you’re bigger, stronger, more powerful, more beautiful.”