I came to deeply understand the therapeutic nature of horses after my husband died unexpectedly in 2016. My daughter was just 11 at the time and had been riding and showing since age 6, and we had purchased an older pony for her the year before after she’d been riding him for a few years. I had also adopted a Tennessee Walking horse mare and was (and am still) a novice. That pony, Ranger, was a blessing! He became my daughter’s therapist through her grief, while she refused to meet with an actual therapist or attend grief counseling. I would see her with that pony, heads together and her talking to him. He was the steady, unwavering soulmate that stayed with her until his passing in his 30s and when she had gone to college. The horse that I adopted was a gentle mare that also helped me tremendously but Ranger, that Welsh pony, will forever be my hero for getting my daughter through the toughest time a person can go through, especially in the pre-teen and teenage years. There is possibly no better mental health counselor than a gentle, intuitive horse.
