Riding the road to recovery: IDF veterans and Oct. 7 survivors heal with equine therapy

Behind a house in Hibat Zion, there is a stable where Dr. Anita Shkedi runs Transcending Trauma, a program that provides equine-assisted activities and/or therapy (EAA/T) to IDF veterans and October 7 survivors in early, mid, and post stages of trauma.

Numerous studies have highlighted the effectiveness of EAA/T in treating individuals with chronic PTSD and in any stage of trauma. Notably a Columbia University study (“Equine-Assisted Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Military Veterans: An Open Trial”) in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (August 2021) found EAA/T shows “promise and appears safe, feasible, and clinically viable.”

The study was conducted by Dr. Yuval Neria and Dr. Prudence Fisher, primary investigators of the Man O’ War Project, who assessed outcomes after a group of veterans with PTSD were treated with eight sessions of EAA/T.

Trauma has plagued Israeli society, before October 7 and even more so since. The crisis has been met with waiting lists at health centers, insufficient funding, and a shortage of qualified professionals. Despite the development of several treatments, research has shown that more than a third of treated PTSD patients never fully recover. Dr. Shkedi is trying to address this issue, which affects not only individuals but also society at large.

To date, 60 soldiers and 20 Supernova music festival survivors have completed eight sessions with Transcending Trauma, which hopes to expand.

Shkedi came out of semi-retirement to launch the initiative. She lost her son when he was killed on a combat mission in Lebanon in 1993. Brothers of Jonathan, the organization behind the initiative, is named after him.

As a horseback rider of 15 years, I was interested in seeing this program in action, as horseback riding has helped me manage my own anxiety.

Watching the healing at work

LEADING TO the stable in the house’s backyard is a cobblestone path and a flower garden with wind chimes, scenery that could be out of a dream. Further ahead is an outdoor stable with three horses and an arena.

When I arrived at the stable, the group was in the middle of a light meditation. “The body of a traumatized person is not healthy enough to do an intensive meditation,” said Shkedi. “They can only focus a little bit... maybe they can only think of one thing. It’s not easy for them, because their brains have too much going about – like clutter.”

Breathing and other exercises help participants get in touch with their environment.

“People who are emotionally numb, or hypervigilant, have lost touch with their environment,” she added.As she continued to describe the symptoms of post-trauma, I watched the group begin to brush their respective horses.

Shkedi said Transcending Trauma uses a “somatic approach” to heal the mind from the body. When people say they are numb, they are also tense. Once the body is relaxed, participants can calm down the survival response happening in their minds.

Before the group begins its meditation, the three participants sit around a table, have coffee and snacks, and have the opportunity to discuss how they reacted to the previous week’s session. The therapists then tell the participants exactly what they will do that day.

Afterward, the group members groom and saddle their horses. Shkedi explained the ride lasts just 15 minutes to prevent the mental fatigue that can result from a longer ride.

As the first rider mounted a gray horse, I could see he was visibly shaking, but once he was on, he started to smile a little. Shkedi said that this rider was terrified when he started the program, but has since formed a bond with the gray horse, Cass. Cass had never “worked” before coming to the stable and needed to learn he could not do whatever he pleased. The bond between horse and veteran was evident from the way the rider groomed the horse to how he rode Cass. At the end of the lesson, the instructor told the riders to hug their horses, and he hugged Cass the longest and most tightly.

It was difficult to believe the second rider suffered from post-traumatic disorder. As soon as he mounted the chestnut, retired dressage horse, he smiled, appeared confident, and took control of the horse.

The third rider-horse pair was quite speedy. Although the entire lesson took place at a walk, this pair sometimes broke into the trot (a jog). Shkedi said that this was the first time the rider was riding without a lead rope, and was riding alone. I would never have guessed it. The rider had exquisite posture on the horse, looked confident, and sometimes smiled. Later, after the end of the ride, this rider shared with the group that, the night before, he had gotten a little more sleep than usual, but added that his sleep still was not great.

During the ride, the riders did breathing exercises while alternating body movements. The instructor asked them to take one foot out of the stirrup and breathe in and out. Then, the riders were instructed to raise one arm in the air and stretch, while breathing in and out. In addition, the horses navigated obstacles, including walking across a seesaw plank, under a blue archway, and over poles, while riders practiced sitting in a half-seat position, where they push their hips back and stand in the stirrups.

Everything goes at the participant’s own pace, and each person decides their comfort level during each session.“The participants have so much going on in their heads. To ask them to focus on a riding activity sometimes is too much, and they become completely exhausted or become sensory fatigued,” Shkedi said.

According to Shkedi, the participants sometimes “trigger” while at the stables and think of their trauma, but it’s never while riding the horse.

“When someone triggers, they look sad and depressed, and they want to walk away from the activity – but it’s not avoidance,” said Shkedi, noting that they are not running away from their trauma. These episodes typically last 30 minutes or longer. When this happens, one of the instructors will sit with the person and keep them company until it ends; sometimes they discuss the trigger, and sometimes they just sit together.

“This is why we have four instructors,” Shkedi informed me.

AFTER THE riders dismounted, Shkedi explained the benefits of riding.

“What they do on the horse is release negativity and gain positive emotions. It makes them feel that there is a future,” she said.

While riding a horse, people become more aware of their bodies, and by focusing on the activity, they are able to put their trauma aside.

Shkedi said participants experiencing trauma often feel lost after leaving the military. They benefit from the program by learning a skill, having structure and purpose. Working with horses also teaches planning, multitasking, and helps traumatized individuals connect and form attachments.

“When people who are traumatized come here, they’ve lost their trust in other human beings,” Shkedi said. “After trauma you have all these anxieties and stressors. It’s easier to trust a horse. The horses give back a lot.

“Once a rider builds an attachment with a horse and learns to communicate with the horse, they can carry it over into their lives, and it gives them the opportunity to connect with people.”

I asked Shkedi how the horses give back.

“When the person comes here, the horse ‘reads’ the human – every muscle movement on your body,” she explained. “If you’re tense, a horse can see that. He’s also capable of reading our emotions – particularly fear, anxiety, anger. He can read us inside.

“When the horse reads who the person is in that moment in time, it helps the traumatized person know who they are, and then they can face their reality,” she explained. Once the traumatized person can face their reality, the horse can help the person change their reality. The horse shows you [that] you don’t have to be so fearful.

AT THE end of the session, the riders untack and groom the horses. Afterward, they have snacks and coffee while debriefing with the instructors.

I heard Shkedi tell one of the riders he looked like a prince. The other riders chuckled.

The participant who rode the gray horse said he doesn’t think of his life while he is there. He told the group he is devoted to Cass, that he is more focused, and feels one with the horse. “It’s like Cass reads my mind.”