Page 561 - Total War on PTSD

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these lessons, people experience all sorts of other wonderful benefits — spending time outdoors; socializing with staff, volunteers, and classmates; gaining confidence from riding a 1,000 pound animal; and building physical strength and balance, as well as the emotional intelligence needed to connect with their equine partners.
At our program, we offer group therapeutic riding lessons for Veterans recovering from physical, mental, and emotional trauma. At each lesson, before they ride, Veterans work with their horse on the ground in activities such as grooming, tacking, leading, or lunging, so they have an opportunity to connect with their horse before they get in the saddle.
Sessions are usually a mix of unmounted horsemanship and riding. Participants will first meet with their instructor and other classmates and learn about their assigned horse for that week‘s session. Each participant gets their own horse for the class. We try to keep a participant on the same horse for at least a few consecutive lessons, so