TAKING THE REINS
How one woman used the majesty of horses to battle her anxiety and bolster the mental health of others.
How spending time with horses helped one woman overcome anxiety and depression and how she’s paying it forward
Erin Gallant can’t remember a time when she didn’t ride horses. “Growing up, I thought everyone had a horse,” says the St. John’s, Nfld., native, who was introduced to the majestic creatures at the age of two, got her first pony at eight and started riding in competitions at 13. When she was 15, she began suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. Caring for and riding horses became not just a sport but also a form of therapy. “Horses don’t judge,” she explains. “And the farm is a calm and quiet place where I can just be me.”
In 2013—when Gallant was 32—the death by suicide of Alison Walsh, a young member of the St. John’s riding community, hit close to home. Gallant wanted to help Walsh’s family, so she offered to take care of Tinker, the young woman’s white half-arabian mare. By then, Gallant was a certified riding coach and a recreational therapist and had been working with people with autism and other developmental differences. She wondered if Tinker and her other horses could bring some peace and stability to those struggling with mental health issues. She started offering equineassisted therapy sessions in partnership with a women’s centre and First Light (formerly the Native Friendship Centre). And that’s how, that same year, Spirit Horse was born.
Gallant estimates that more than 500 people have been through the program since then. Dealing with issues such as addiction, trauma, anxiety, domestic abuse, depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, most are referred through the health-care system or community partners, though there are some self-referrals, too. In the barn, patients meet nine horses, Tinker among them. Respond to the stately beasts vary: Some people find the horses’ physical presence calming; others find it unsettling. Gallant lets everyone take things at their own pace. Slowly, the barn becomes a safe space where building trust with the horses through grooming and planned exercises becomes a transformational experience.
In 2017, Jennifer Mercer entered Hope Arena (Spirit Horse’s facility), while struggling with severe depression triggered by a job loss due to chronic health problems. She was bedridden most days and, though she was seeing a psychiatrist, she felt hopeless and desperate.
“Initially, when I arrived, I was afraid of horses. For the first six weeks, I just got to know them and groomed them. Then I started leading them around the ring and developed a connection with them—they make me feel so comfortable. I found when I was with horses, I forgot all about my problems,” she says, mentioning a time when a horse was mimicking her actions. “Seeing the horses mirroring my behaviour helped me become really aware of myself and my movements. It’s so hard to put the experience into words—it’s just magical.”
The use of horses for therapeutic purposes dates back millennia to ancient Greece. Horses have supported people with physical disabilities, notably polio and cerebral palsy, and mental health challenges, such as depression and anxiety, as well as children living with autism. The therapy is sometimes referred to as equine-facilitated wellness. The Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association defines it as “a range of counselling, education and personal development approaches, strategies and techniques that bring humans and equines together in healing and learning environments.” Gallant’s approach is peerbased, meaning she brings her lived experience of mental health challenges to each session, which allows her to meet people wherever they’re at emotionally. The changes some people experience are significant.
“I’ve come such a long way in the past year,” says Mercer. “I have more self-confidence, self-worth, hope. This time last year, I was in bed and couldn’t get out, and now I’m in school. I still have struggles, but just being in [the horses’] presence helps me.”
A couple of years ago, Gallant received a $300,000 donation from the Merb’ys. (You might have heard of them: They’re a group of bearded Newfoundlanders who don mermaid tails and pose for an annual fundraising calendar.) She used the funds to kick-start a pilot project in two local prisons: the maximumsecurity Her Majesty’s Penitentiary and the Clarenville Correctional Centre for Women. Gallant takes two of her horses into the yard, and small groups of inmates spend a few hours each week working with them on things like problem-solving and facing fears. It’s the first program of its kind in Canada.
“For someone who’s incarcerated to feel trusted and to feel that they can trust—it’s a pretty powerful moment,” says Gallant. She recalls a moment at Clarenville when Tinker and Roxy, another one of Erin’s horses, completely changed the dynamic. Gallant had challenged the group of women to get the horses, who were grazing at the other end of the yard, to come to them. Sounds easy, but it wasn’t. The women were boisterous and chatty, and the horses were having none of it. After awhile, one of the women posited that the horses may respond if they all became quiet. Sensing the shift, the horses perked up and made their way over. The power of that bond, that shift in self-awareness, wasn’t lost on anyone, least of all Gallant. “Some very powerful and wild things happen sometimes when the horses’ actions reflect back to us what’s going on in our lives,” says Gallant. Her goal is to make that impactful experience available to as many people as she can.
“When I was with horses, I forgot all about my problems.”