Rescued

February 28th, 2019

Sonya Little has rescued and re-homed over 150 horses in her life and now her Lincoln Park Horse and Human Rehabilitation Centre is working to help rescue and rehabilitate another mammal – humans.

Sonya opened the centre in July last year as a safe non-judgmental place where people can receive equine therapy and natural support – a service that's free for veterans.

“The centre was born out of a passion for helping recovering veterans as my father was a Vietnam veteran, but my main skill is still rescuing horses,” Sonya said.

“He was in Vietnam for only a few months but the effects were huge.

“We all dealt with his PTSD which involved lots of major mood swings and he turned to alcohol.

“I only found horses and equine therapy after I'd moved out of home and I think they gave me a lot of confidence and stability that I didn't have at home.”

Researchers and therapists have found that equine therapy is highly effective as horses are prey animals meaning they are 'highly attuned to the surrounding environment, including the emotional states of people around them in order to differentiate friend from foe.

This makes them highly intuitive and sensitive to our emotions, sometimes detecting feelings that we’re not even aware of having.'

The nature of a horse also affects the way a human acts and vice versa – for example an angry or agitated human will result in a frisky skittish horse, whereas a calm person will gain the trust of a horse and benefit from it's equally calm aura.

“Horses have a heightened sense of emotions, very similar to veterans going through PTSD as they often suffer from adrenaline fatigue so by helping the horses come to terms with their emotions the veterans also come to terms with theirs,” Sonya said.

“When veterans or clients come out we do a lot of natural horsemanship with them but it all depends on their prior ability with horses.

“A lot of it is simply just working with and having contact with the horse, learning their characteristics and how they work, grooming and moving them over certain obstacles.

“Whilst we groom we learn how to meditate with breathing techniques to match the horse and improve calmness.

“A lot of the time when we experience anxiety attacks we don't breathe properly so matching our breathing to the horse's gets us into the habit of using better breathing techniques.

“Our movements actually end up almost being like Tai Chi but we're just brushing the full length of the horse which, of course, the horse loves!”

Sonya said the success of the rehabilitation centre is down to it's non-judgemental, open attitude, especially since the horses are not able to comment, judge or criticise a person experiencing mental health issues.

“It's mainly just a non-judgemental place for a person to communicate better to a horse as horses have this unique way of sensing emotions that a person might not be announcing,” Sonya said.

“Even if you say yes I'm fine, the horse knows better.

“We've certainly seen a difference in people who come in withdrawn, quiet and shy who become quite confident and conversational – the personal growth helps them become their own-self.”

Sonya's current 30 horses are made up of rescues and long-term residents of the centre which Sonya uses as a place to foster-home horses seized by the RSPCA of South Australia during prosecution cases.

She said the only way the centre can continue to run is with the continued support from volunteers, fundraising events and donations.

The centre is holding an open day on Friday, April 19 for the public to come and view the facilities and experience what the centre is working to achieve.

If you or anyone you know needs help you can message Sonya via the centre's Facebook page at facebook.com/LPHHRC or call her on 0423 586 384 to book an appointment.

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