“That day combined three things that I enjoy: horses, painting and spending time with my mom,” McKeever recalls.

When they finished decorating Rosie, McKeever saddled up and D’Aniello snapped a photo to document the moment. The picture became a tangible example of something horses bring to McKeever’s life: the ability to live in the present.

Law and Horses

McKeever’s love of horses began at a young age. Inspired by her mom’s love for the animals, she spent her childhood days playing with plastic horses, watching western films and poring over horse-themed books. As she grew up, D’Aniello and McKeever enjoyed guided trail rides together.

“I have always loved horses ever since I can remember,” McKeever says.

Just like her love for horses, McKeever’s interest in the law started early on. D’Aniello recalls her daughter boldly declaring her intent to pursue a career in law at just 8 years old.

“Who was I to discourage that?” D’Aniello says.

Many years later, McKeever completed her undergraduate education and prepared to start law school at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in her hometown of Tucson, Ariz.

Close to that time, D’Aniello was taking riding lessons. She’d purchased a package of lessons but found that due to time constraints, she wasn’t able to finish them. D’Aniello offered the remaining sessions to McKeever, who accepted. That decision led McKeever to something that would help her navigate the next four years of her life: Rosie.

D’Aniello remembers being concerned about the expense a horse would pose to McKeever, but also being supportive of her daughter pursuing a healthy outlet. Regardless of her feelings, D’Aniello saw her daughter was determined to purchase Rosie.

“When Leah makes up her mind, Leah makes up her mind,” she says. “You can’t talk her out of anything.”

McKeever knew keeping Rosie in her life during law school would pose financial challenges, but she couldn’t see herself moving forward any other way. She worked out a plan using her savings to budget for Rosie during school.

“If I have something that I love and something that I’m passionate about, I don’t think of excuses or having to get rid of anything,” McKeever explains. “I try and think of how I’m going to make it work.”

Finding the Present

McKeever remembers every minute of her time being claimed during law school. She constantly felt guilty if she wasn’t reading or studying.

“You always have this pressure on you to get a bunch of readings done,” McKeever recalls. “Sometimes the amount of readings are just not plausible to get through.”

To escape school stress, McKeever turned to two of her passions: working out and riding Rosie. The first helped her stay physically healthy but didn’t keep her mind from thoughts of schoolwork. The latter, however, completely captured her attention.

“Going and spending time with Rosie was the only time that I didn’t think about school,” McKeever says.

Riding Rosie forced McKeever’s brain to remain in the present. If her attention drifted, Rosie brought her back to the current moment. The horse would break gait or even shy at an object if she felt McKeever wasn’t focused on her.

“I maintained a good mental health in law school, and I attribute that to having my horse,” says McKeever. (See “Mental Health Benefits of Horses,” below.)

McKeever worked with Rosie four to five times a week throughout law school. In 2017, she successfully graduated from her program.

No Regrets

Several years have passed since McKeever’s time in law school, but the Fourth of July she spent with Rosie and her mother remains seared in her memory.

D’Aniello witnessed how horses impact McKeever first hand, and doesn’t see her daughter ever giving them up.

“For Leah, Rosie is her great escape, and therefore her happy place,” says D’Aniello.

Now a practicing lawyer, McKeever spends her days in the courtroom, seeking justice for the people she represents. Beyond a reasonable doubt, she believes it’s Rosie that helped her get there.

“She helped me through many tough things, law school being one of them, and I’m eternally grateful to her for that,” she says.

If given the chance to do law school again, McKeever wouldn’t hesitate to bring Rosie along for the ride.

“That’s one decision in my life that I’ll never regret.”

This article about Leah McKeever appeared in the September 2023 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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Tom Mannigel didn’t know much about horses until his wife, Diane, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Thanks to an equine-assisted therapy program offered at a nearby PATH-certified facility (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International), he now knows first-hand that horses can be valuable collaborators when it comes to meeting stress and depression head on, as well as improving the pair’s relationship.

“I’m not really a horse person,” says Mannigel. “I grew up in rural California where everyone had horses, but every time I’d get on ‘em, it was basically a disaster. However, after we took part in the program, things started to get better in our relationship.”

Innovative Programs

The Mannigels took part in the Kids and Horses PATH program in Minden, Nev.

PATH-certified facilities, instructors and other professionals use equine-assisted therapies geared toward individuals who have special needs. Recently, programming at some PATH-certified facilities has diversified to include equine-assisted therapies for veterans and others coping with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Kids and Horses is just one of the PATH- sanctioned facilities that uses a program developed by Connected Horse to help individuals and their caregivers navigate the physical flood of emotions connected to the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias.

“I was intrigued,” says Cat O’Brien, Kids and Horses program director and a PATH-certified instructor. “I live in a community of retirees, and I believed it would be an asset to our facility.”

According to Connected Horse co-founder Paula Hertel, MSW, combining the two programs has turned out to be a perfect fit.

“There is a mission alignment with many PATH barns and Connected Horse: We believe the horse/human connection provides benefits to both horse and participant,” says Hertel. “We are advocating that Connected Horse is ideal for people with dementia because it doesn’t require traditional verbal communication.”

According to Hertel, the Connected Horse program focuses on mindfulness, emotional and sensory triggers, and understanding. Horses used in the program allow the person diagnosed with dementia and their caregiver all communicate on the same level.

“The horse is really the teacher,” she says.

Benefits for Caregivers

The horses had a profound impact on caregivers as well, as Hertel and co-founder Nancy Schier Anzelmo discovered in their program-connected research.

“Care partners often experience feelings of being overwhelmed, anxious, depressed and frustrated with the situation in which they find themselves,” Schier Anzelmo explains. “The Connected Horse program helps the care partner and the person who has been diagnosed with the grief and depression that comes after an initial diagnosis.”

In fact, those were exactly the emotions that swept over Leticia Metherell when her mother Maria Murguido was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2017.

“I don’t know if you would call it depression, but there was a deep concern of losing my mother and the impacts this [diagnosis] would have on my family,” recalls Metherell. Along with her mother, she took part in the Connected Horse program offered by Kids and Horses in June and July of 2022. “Also, perhaps a selfish part of me thought about my risks of getting Alzheimer’s and what impact her diagnosis would have on my life.”

In order to cope with her own feelings and those her parents were experiencing, Metherell scoured the internet for something that would provide meaningful activities for the pair. She came upon the Kids and Horses program during one of those searches.

“I was skeptical when I first attended the sessions because I didn’t think they were going to make a long-term impact,” she says. “I don’t think I really had a true understanding until I attended the program and experienced it for myself.”

But she discovered that the horses taught the humans important things about communication and connection.

“There definitely is a form of communication happening between people and horses [that is] influenced by our own moods, body posture, attentiveness, and tone of voice,” says Metherell. “The horses also communicate with us via their responses, whether they come to you, walk by your side of their own accord, or allow you to groom them. This is such an important lesson, because as the ability of my mother to communicate reduces as her disease progresses, these lessons help me understand that there will always be a connection there, and that a verbal interaction is not always necessary for it to be a deep and meaningful interaction.”

Physical Benefits for Patients

The PATH/Connected Horse synergy has physical benefits, too, says Tineke Jacobson, a physical therapist, PATH-registered therapist and hippotherapy clinical specialist at the Xenophon Therapeutic Riding Center in Orinda, Calif.

Jacobson found the Connected Horse program in 2018 while searching for a program that was using horses to assist in the treatment of dementia.

“There was a growing interest in serving adults in our community when it became apparent that horses have exceptional talents with unmounted activities,” she explains.

The Connected Horse program was a good fit for Xenophon, which already offered equine-assisted physical and occupational programs for children and adults.

Jacobson credits working with horses not only with an ability to emotionally lift people out of a depressed state, but she says that the physical benefits of the interactions between humans and horses are just as profound.

She remembers one person who took part in the Connected Horse program at Xenophon.

“His gait was characterized by slumped-over posture, looking at the ground, short stride length—all signs of decline due to aging, depression and maybe also dementia,” Jacobson recalls. “When he was given the lead rope to walk with the horse, the horse did not respond to his cues of a verbal ‘walk on.’ Only when he straightened up, looked ahead, and made a large, decisive stride after a deep inhale to expressively say ‘walk on,’ did the horse respond and walk with him wherever he wanted to go.”

The Impact of Equine-Assisted Therapy

Whether its impact is physical or emotional, Metherell says that she will never forget what she learned from the horses at a very difficult time in her life and in the lives of her mother, father and other members of their family.

“Working with horses has helped bring me an emotional awareness, which helps deal with stress and feelings of sadness,” says Metherell. “[This helps me] better understand nonverbal communication and find gratitude in my life. It’s also a shared experience that [my mother and I] can both fall back on when times are hard, and reminds us each day of all the things we have to be grateful for.”

Mannigel agrees.

“I really can’t explain it, but [my relationship with my wife] has changed,” he says. “I don’t know if she’s less anxious because I’m less stressed or if I have less stress because she’s less anxious. All I know is that since we [worked] with the horses, our relationship is better.”

This article about equine-assisted therapy helping Alzheimer’s disease patients appeared in the November/December 2022 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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On August 8, the deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than a century raced across Maui. The flames, stoked by powerful winds from Hurricane Dora and a high-pressure system north of the island, reduced much of the historic town of Lahaina to ash. Though little could have been done by first responders to stop the flames as they raced east, the heartache and despair felt by Lahaina citizens is real — and one woman, her team, and 14 horses are dedicated to helping them heal.

Paige Deponte, founder of Spirit Horse Ranch, is no stranger to trauma — it’s been the driving force behind the creation of her nonprofit that focuses on helping adolescent and teen victims of abuse address their trauma in a holistic manner, integrating both emotional and psychological aspects of healing.

It became strikingly evident that more than just children needed help after the Maui wildfires.

“There are more than 7,000 people in hotels and interim housing,” Deponte says. “And there has been an increase to more than 500 domestic abuse calls each month since the fires.”

The magnitude of recent events and the depth of people’s distress is manifesting itself in a myriad of negative ways. Knowing that they could help, Paige threw open her barn doors to anyone who had been affected by the fires — children or not.

“What happened in Lahaina wasn’t just the loss of people,” Deponte says. “But the loss of [people’s] entire lives. Their businesses were in Lahaina, their friends and their community… that’s all gone.

All wildfire survivors are grappling with their losses. Some are navigating the system and hoping to rebuild their lives in Lahaina; others feel the overwhelming reality of the arduous rebuilding process. With environmental challenges and cost increases, some Lahaina residents may feel pushed out.

The people involved in the fire are trying to process so many emotions, Deponte says.

“They’re experiencing things like pain, loss, grief and overwhelm; they’re feeling scattered, and confused,” Deponte says.”They feel rage and a loss of identity… the list goes on. I had people come to me who said, ‘I saw things in Lahaina that I don’t want to tell a single soul.'”

The ability to give voice to traumatic experiences is incredibly important to the healing process — it’s the first step in manifestation or forward motion. “They tell the horse what they want… what they really need in their life right now. Once you talk about it out loud, you can manifest it. It’s incredibly powerful for the mind,” Deponte says. “I knew that the horses could hear them. The horses would lift that burden.”

Spirit Horse Ranch uses Trauma Informed Equine Assisted Service, which focuses on partnering with horses to provide a healing environment. What Deponte has found, however, is that many fire survivors simply need a place to grieve. “Some [people] just lay on the horses and they cry. The horse holds space for them,” Deponte says.

Those at Spirit Horse Ranch encourage not just those who lived through the fires to come and heal, but also anyone who was affected emotionally, especially those first responders who were on the front lines trying to save people and structures.

Meeting people where they are is one of the core tenets of equine assisted therapy. “We say ‘Where are you right now?’” Deponte says. “Your response or reaction to trauma today is what we work with.” Many of those who lived in Lahaina had beautiful lives they loved, explains Deponte, and now that’s just gone. “Their mind struggles to handle it.”

Paige — and her 14 four-legged team members — is helping heal all Maui residents affected by the deadly Maui wildfires and showing them that life can be beautiful again.

Click here to learn how you can help Spirit Horse Ranch in their efforts.

This article about Spirit Horse Ranch’s efforts to help those affected by the Maui wildfires is a web exclusive for Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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The horses of Angel Reins are bringing hope and healing to victims of human trafficking.

When we think of therapeutic work with horses, traditional programs for people with physical challenges are what usually come to mind. But in recent years, equine therapy has been expanding to include those with mental health challenges, including survivors of one of the worst traumas a person can face: human trafficking.

Also Read: The Best Therapy

Hope Through Horses at Angel Reins

Angel Reins Stable, located on 40 acres in St. Augusta, Minn., is a 501(c)3 nonprofit providing a place of hope and healing for victims of human trafficking with the help of a gentle herd of rescue horses.

These women have suffered not only physical trauma, but also mental abuse. For some, they are not ready for traditional talk therapy, and being able to just be with horses can start to heal and unlock their hearts.

“We find that rescue horses are good for this kind of therapy because they, too, have been through trauma and are able to mirror the women’s emotions,” said Kathy Zachmann, the program’s founder and director.

“In all honesty, sometimes they just like to get the country air, to breathe, to brush their horse, [and] to talk and cry to their horse, and that’s OK,” says Zachmann.

Being at Angel Reins gives the women the chance to forget about the past and their pain and just be with the horses. The women feel safe because the horses are honest and don’t ask or expect anything in return.

In the words of one of the program’s participants, “When I’m out here, I feel like I’m 12 years old and I don’t have any worries in the world.”

This article about Angel Reins appeared in the June 2022 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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This June, The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl.) launches its online training of the research-based curriculum, EAP-PTSD for Veterans. PATH Intl. was awarded funding by the Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) to support the development of an online training to utilize the research-based curriculum developed through the Man O’War (MOW) Project at Columbia University. This curriculum is for mental health providers and equine specialist teams to work with veterans with post-traumatic stress symptoms (EAP-PTSD).

The EAP-PTSD program was developed by Drs. Prudence Fisher and Yuval Neria, co-directors of the Man O’ War Project at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The Man O’ War team, prepared a well-specified manual, the first of its kind in the field of mental health services incorporating equines, which they then tested in an open trial of veterans with PTSD, demonstrating a measurable reduction of PTSD and depressive symptoms.

MOW and PATH Intl. partnered on this project, each bringing their expertise to make this curriculum and training effective and ultimately available to equine assisted psychotherapy (EAP) providers all over the country. This in turn will provide access to this proven treatment to hundreds of veterans with PTSD and other trauma and stressor-related symptoms. The PATH Intl.–MOW partnership is a perfect match of verified curriculum, subject matter experts, training experience and a network of experienced EAP providers. Together, they used their vision and experience to successfully create, implement, evaluate and disseminate a training program to deliver EAP-PTSD.

Thanks to the generosity of the Bob Woodruff Foundation and their strong desire to make this training available to PATH Intl. members, a limited number of grant-supported scholarships will be offered for the PATH Intl. EAP-PTSD Curriculum Online Training (underwriting all but $100/team). Training must be taken by a team of one licensed mental health professional and one trained equine specialist, and one member of the team must be a PATH Intl. member to apply for the scholarship. These scholarships will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis to qualifying applicants.

Visit conta.cc/3e6SOiZ for information on this training provided to help veterans with PTSD, or email Danielle Seybert, dseybert@pathintl.org.

About PATH International

The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl.) was formed in 1969. The organization leads the advancement of professional equine-assisted services (EAS) by supporting its members and stakeholders through rigorously developed standards, credentialing and education. At 881 member centers, more than 66,000 children and adults, including 6,200 veterans, may find improved health, wellness and a sense of pride, independence and fun through involvement with horses. EAS at member centers may include therapeutic or adaptive riding, interactive vaulting, driving, adaptive equestrian sport, equine-assisted learning and therapy services.

Further Reading

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