Program connects first responders and veterans with horse therapy

A Flathead nonprofit is connecting veterans and first responders with an equine therapy program that hopes to help participants manage anxiety that can follow high-stress situations.

Vets Valor Equine Therapy Inc. opened in December and offers free riding lessons to veterans, current military personnel and first responders.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, post-traumatic stress disorder impacts roughly 31 percent of Vietnam veterans, 10 percent of Gulf War veterans, 11 percent of the Afghanistan War veterans and 20 percent of the Iraq War veterans. In Montana, between Jan. 1, 2014 and March 1, 2016, roughly 120 veterans took their lives, according to the Montana Suicide Mortality Review Team.

Not every person who experiences a traumatic event that puts their life or another person’s life in danger struggles with PTSD. But Lynn Murray, president of Vets Valor, said it’s important that people who step into daily dangers have a variety of resources to help manage the stress.

She said it’s especially important in Montana where resources are limited.

Director of the program Stacia Stevens said equine therapy “isn’t trying to make professional horsemen.”

She said some people choose to just lead or groom the horse they’re paired with. The important thing is they spend time with the animals, she said.

“We have fears and phobias and we get defensive and angry and we get tense. The horses read everything we feel,” she said.

Stevens said she watches a horse’s behavior change with each rider, mimicking their emotions.

“They get to see how emotional they are through the reaction of the horse to their request,” she said. “Our goal is to help these people — vets, service members — to recognize what they’re feeling and to feel more comfortable when they go back out into the world. It’s pretty beautiful to see.”

This Saturday, April 15, the nonprofit is hosting an open house to show the community what it’s trying to accomplish.

Murray said she hopes the event will draw in more participants.

“We would like to see it expand to get more veterans and first responders involved and possible donors,” she said. “The open house will be a way for them to see what we can offer.”

The event will begin at noon at 304 and 310 Batavia Lane and wrap up around 3 p.m.

Murray said the equine therapy program is typically open on Fridays. The nonprofit hopes to eventually increase the days it operates as it reaches more people.

For more information, go to www.equinetherapy-vets.org or call (406) 212-5486.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com