Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga: A Haven for Both Humans and Retired Racehorses

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00:00Located just a few miles down the road from historic Saratoga Racecourse, Therapeutic

00:06Horses of Saratoga serves as a haven for both humans and racehorses alike.

00:10Since 2018, the non-profit has provided space for mental wellness through the Horse and

00:15Human Connection and is now working towards expanding its outreach to the community and

00:19beyond.

00:21This farm is meant to be a place of health, healing, and wellness for the horses and for

00:27the humans who come here to visit.

00:28So our mission is twofold.

00:31First and foremost, we are proud to be a Thoroughbred After Care Alliance accredited organization.

00:36The 29 horses here are each telling a story of what it looks like to have owners who really,

00:40really care.

00:41This horse has done all he can with someone on his back, and that is usually a vulnerable

00:46moment because once they can't be ridden, they become theoretically less useful, but

00:50that is only theoretical.

00:51We find them incredibly useful as therapy animals.

00:54So our second part of our mission is to share these horses, build around the Horse-Human

00:59Connection to provide wellness and healing and health to all of those in our Saratoga

01:05community.

01:07So the Equine Assisted Psychotherapy is our primary program.

01:11It is the one that we were built around, and what that means is that we here at the farm

01:16are taking care of the horses and making them available to licensed mental health professionals

01:22and clinicians.

01:24The idea of the Horse-Human Connection is to enable folks to connect with horses.

01:29Horses are incredibly calming.

01:31One of my observations was a young girl who is here, we work with a lot of children at

01:35the farm, she was very anxious, unfortunately this is very common.

01:39So she was in a paddock with our two miniature ponies.

01:41The minis were way over on the other side of the paddock because they could see all

01:44that energy and they were having none of it.

01:47And by the end of the session, as this process of like self-regulation and moderating her

01:52energy happened, the ponies rewarded her with like the ultimate prize for all of us is when

01:58the animal walks right up to you and nuzzles you and you feel like, you know, you've won

02:01the day.

02:02It is a really exciting time.

02:04I've just joined Therapeutic Horses Saratoga just about six months ago and it is just such

02:08a great moment in this organization's evolution.

02:12All that has been built over these first six years and then to really be at this inflection

02:16point.

02:17We're calling this year a year of transformation because there's so much potential.

02:22In partnership with ECS, which is a large and thriving psychological services practice,

02:26there are 20 plus therapists up at ECS.

02:29We have all the mental health professionals that we need.

02:32Now with our new arena, we have the space in which to put them.

02:35So the new arena is essentially an indoor pasture where our programs can happen, but

02:41it gives us tremendous potential for doing more of what we're already doing.

02:47Anyone out there in the world that needs healing, you know, we are here to help and that's what

02:52we really want the world to know at this point.

02:54It's really subtle what happens here, but it's also extremely powerful because it's

02:58that replicability that the horses give you that you can take into the world.

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