{"id":8243,"date":"2024-05-23T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8243"},"modified":"2024-05-23T18:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T18:30:00","slug":"veterans-find-healing-working-with-horses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8243","title":{"rendered":"Veterans find healing working with horses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 2024-05-23T18:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n

Joanne Parchetta is one of many Veterans helped by the Center for Equine Recovery, a program at Middle Tennessee State University. The idea behind the program was bringing Veterans in from the Veterans Recovery Center, part of Tennessee Valley VA<\/a> in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.<\/p>\n

Through interactions and learning about the behaviors of horses, Veterans could learn about themselves through their development in class.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that you are not defined by chronic illness or physical disability but it can demoralize you and cause you to give up. This class with horses showed me that I can still achieve and I can still dream,\u201d Parchetta said.<\/p>\n

CERV allows Veterans from Tennessee Valley VA to break through their own mental and health barriers to improve their own lives. According to CERV, horses mirror their guide or rider and provide a physical reflection of a Veteran\u2019s emotions. With this feedback, a Veteran can better see, process and work through their behaviors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe program is set up to safely assist and encourage Veterans to succeed in overcoming some of the fears we might have of large animals or horses but also to build our self-confidence and learn to trust others and ourselves again,\u201d said Lee Farris, who has been a part of CERV since 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe expected me to do my part.\u201d<\/h2>\n

\u201cMy horse Penny showed me patience,\u201d said Parchetta who has been a part of CERV since 2024. \u201cShe wasn\u2019t judgmental, but expected me to do my part with confidence. The staff were the experts and took their time to ensure I was confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Confidence, patience and courage are vital skills that are tantamount to VA\u2019s Whole Health service. CERV works with the recreational therapy portion of Whole Health. The class walks Veterans through classroom and hands-on demonstrations. How to groom, care for and get to know the horse are part of the initial few weeks of the 10-week program. Veterans learn how to walk and guide their horses while dismounted and then how to lead their horses through various obstacles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes you trust in yourself.\u201d<\/h2>\n

\u201cYou have to work as a team with your horse emotionally and physically for it to work,\u201d said Parchetta. \u201cWhen trusting in this amazing animal, it makes you trust in yourself and rediscover things in yourself you thought were lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Farris, the professionalism of the instructors provided a place for him to feel comfortable to grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned how to trust the staff\u2014not only because they were the experts\u2014but they patiently took their time to ensure I was confident with the skills I was learning. I was able to be myself and not worry about being judged for my mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Through interactions and learning about the behaviors of horses, Veterans learn about themselves through their development in class.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-news"],"yoast_head":"\nVeterans find healing working with horses - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Through interactions and learning about the behaviors of horses, Veterans learn about themselves through their development in class.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8243\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Veterans find healing working with horses - 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