The warm October sun hung high overhead as Lisa S. stepped out onto the pasture, a handful of horses roaming just ahead. It had been a year since she’d last spent time at Silva Spirit Farm in Tiverton, and a lot had changed in the months since. The first time around, Lisa was afraid to trust the horses, and it took some time before she felt comfortable around them. Today, though, was a different story.

Today, Lisa stood on the pasture seven months drug free. She was working through the trauma from her past. She had goals for the future. And she knew just how powerful of an experience being on the farm would be.

“This time, I felt safe, I didn’t have fear,” Lisa said. “I’m a different person today.”

“There’s a lot of healing that happened.”

That is the power of Medicine Horse, a nonprofit dedicated to making equine-assisted therapy accessible to those in need, helping to lead them toward a journey of healing.

Horses for healing

Founded in March of 2020, Medicine Horse is comprised of equine specialist Carol Ann Silva and psychotherapists Marjory Roberts Gray and Jessica Veroline. Together, they facilitate the equine-assisted growth and learning association (EAGALA) model of therapy to treat a variety of emotional, behavioral and mental health issues in both individual and group settings. Unlike therapeutic riding, the EAGALA method takes place entirely on the ground, where clients engage in activities with the horses centered around one of four different focuses — move, create, observe or relate — depending on the issues they are working through. Because horses are prey, not predator, animals, they can read a client’s energy and respond accordingly.

“They can read your heart from six feet away,” Silva said.

Since forming, the nonprofit has demoed the EAGALA model to a variety of different organizations around the state, hoping to spread the word about their horses with healing. Last October, residents of Teen Challenge found comfort in the animal’s love and acceptance; earlier this year, frontline healthcare workers tackled the obstacles they were experiencing during the pandemic. Hosting groups from targeted populations is the focus Medicine Horse wants to lean into, Silva said.

“That’s what we’re really trying to cultivate,” added Gray.

As part of that mission, Medicine Horse welcomed residents from Amos House – a Providence-based nonprofit that provides shelter and resources to the homeless – on Friday, Oct. 15. They center on four domains, said Laura Harris, coordinator for the Women’s Transitional program, to help residents get to where they want to be in their lives:  home, health, community and purpose. 

“Our main focus is how we support our community, and helping others identify ways to help themselves to stay on a track that they want for themselves,” she said. 

It’s the same program Harris went through 13 years ago, helping her to understand how her experiences had shaped her worldview, and how that worldview influenced her choices. Amos House helped Harris move forward, assisting her with getting into college; today, she’s in the process of obtaining her master’s degree in social work and is working toward licensure.

“It turned into a whole new pathway of recovery,” she said.

There is a misconception, Harris continued, that people become homeless because they are unwilling to work. Yet she’s seen individuals from all walks of life come through Amos House’s door, from those who are struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues to people who are college-educated, raised families and ran successful businesses.

“Events happen that become uncontrollable, and we find ourselves in situations where we don’t know how to navigate,” Harris said.

That was the case for Amos House resident Sandra F., who holds a bachelor’s degree in animal sciences and works as a certified vet tech specializing in internal medicine for smaller, exotic animals. While she had the academics and athletics part down, Sandra said she always struggled with having self-acceptance. Coming to Silva Spirit Farm, she said, was like a breath of fresh air.

“Being accepted by something so large is what I was looking for,” she said.

For Lexyy, it was her first time ever being around horses, and initially she was feeling intimidated. But when one of the animals nuzzled up next to her, Lexyy could feel her guard coming down.

“Once I got used to it, it’s beautiful,” she said. “This is an awesome experience.”

Not everyone warmed up to the horses as readily, which Gray said was more than OK; a lot of the healing often happens only once people have left the farm, a reality that she admits is difficult sometimes to accept.

“Our main motto is ‘trust the process,’” Gray said. “That is one of the hardest things to do.”

Yet as Lisa affirmed, there is something special about the time spent on Silva Spirit Farm.

“Even if I cry, they’re happy tears,” she said. “There’s a lot of healing here.”

As a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Medicine Horse accepts donations. For more information about the organization, visit www.medicine-horse.com.