Patients experience holistic benefits in new horse riding program

By Hilary Caton, Communications Coordinator

 Once a week for six weeks, a handful of CAMH patients excitedly boarded a bus for a 45 minute drive to Halton Hills.

Driving through the countryside, patients pass lush greenery all around them showcasing stunning fall foliage.

It’s all part of the build up to their planned destination—their arrival at Top Rail Stables.

It’s where they participate in CAMH’s Stable Visits and Horse Riding Program, courtesy of the Gifts of Light Comfort Fund. During the course of six weeks patients got familiar and comfortable around the horses at the facility by grooming and walking them. And when they’re ready, they have the chance to ride them too.

“We have seen high levels of engagement and enthusiasm from our program participants," says Theresa Bernard, an Occupational Therapist and one of the program coordinators.

Some of the patients, she adds, have never even left the city, so these trips give them the chance to explore what’s beyond the walls of CAMH and even Toronto.

“We witness big changes in our patients at the horse farm. Patients who typically have a very flat demeanor are now smiling and laughing when interacting with the horses,” says OT Amanda Dam.

“One of the patients who participated must have said about 20 times ‘this is awesome,’ and these are words we haven’t heard out of this patient's mouth before.”

According to studies, therapeutic benefits of animal assisted therapy, particularly for forensic patients with a history of violence, include positive psychosocial gains and greater tolerance to provocation in interpersonal situations, which can lead to a reduced state of anxiety.

The program has become a hit with patients. So far both Theresa and Amanda have seen significant changes in their patients who have participated in the program.

“The environment is so different from the inpatient forensic units so we have the chance to see everyone just relax into the space; we saw our patients really learning skills and remembering them week to week,” says Theresa.

“One of our aims is to create opportunities for success and for our patients to show they can learn new things and be productive. As an OT that’s where our values lie too, but it just exceeded our expectations.”

Amanda acknowledges often patients forget that they’re more than an inpatient at CAMH. She recalls one patient saying he “felt like a man” when he got up on the horse for the first time. It was a good laugh between them, but it showed just how their sense of self can get lost sometimes.

“They’re on a forensic unit where a lot of their power and choice has been taken away from them and they can start to feel very disempowered and hopeless,” Amanda explains.

“I think this program is a great opportunity for patients to have a renewed sense of hope and identify themselves as something other than an inpatient.”

The program works as part of each patient's recovery and although each patient has different goals, Amanda and Theresa are trying to help them all build confidence and improve their self-esteem.

“I learned I can be calm; that I can learn new stuff. Being around horses is therapeutic, it calms me down,” says Tony, one of the participants in the riding program.

The program has been so successful the unit doesn’t have to do much campaigning for the next cycle. Word of mouth has spread and there are already patients eager to join the program; even Tony said he’d recommend the program “to everybody.”

“It’s fun being around horses. They are beautiful. It’s therapeutic. I was afraid at first but by the second trip I gained confidence and now I am not afraid at all,” he said.