Our local MOAA Chapter had a presentation on this. It’s a therapy program to assist people who have suffered a traumatic event to deal with the PTSD and other effects that sometimes follow. I be interested in opinions of it’s value.
G.
The barn I manage has been dabbling in EAGALA for about a year now, and for a period of time, we had staff that were EAGALA Specialists and licensed/credentialed mental health professionals. We also have had a military PTSD program on site since ~2014.
Really, the only difference I have seen is that the EAGALA model requires the licensed MHP to be present for all sessions. The “activities” are nothing out of the ordinary, and can easily be done in any therapeutic program.
Our EAGALA Specialist was VERY safety oriented, but shared with me that not all EAGALA sessions are what many would call “safe”. Many sessions include multiple loose (naked) horses in a confined area, sometimes with obstacles, sometimes with a single participant, sometimes with many. I have been shown many videos that make me cringe thinking of the “what if” scenarios, and footage that clearly shows a horse (or herd) demonstrating body language that is ignored by the participant that could have escalated to someone getting hurt. I am not a big fan of naked horses in a herd setting being worked by an unsaavy participant… too many chances for the herd to ignore the human and do what the herd wants.
Our program is going to continue with becoming EAGALA certified, but will continue doing what we do until then. We have already accomplished great things with our veterans (and other adults/children with differing abilities) with the ground lessons - work - programs we already have. Something as simple as asking a “non-horsey” PTSD veteran to work a horse thru a simple obstacle course has so many moments of connection and therapy for the veteran.
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I know of someone who is certified through EAGALA, and I have never been impressed with this person’s horsemanship skills. They call themself an “equine specialist” and have a profound lack of horse handling abilities and knowledge. They also have no background in psychology, psychiatry, therapy or counseling, so I am not sure what they are bringing to the table on that side either. They seem to think this is a great way to make money, and write off their farm and horse expenses.
And as as noted above, safety seems to be very lacking!
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There are so many other great mental health models out there, many which really consider more of the horse’s welfare and the therapist’s skills. Remember if no licensed mental provider is present it is not equine assisted therapy. Honestly therapists are using a variety of intervention approaches and having horses involved is just another strategy.
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