How We Serve
At Hooves & Heroes, we offer equine-based activities designed to help individuals build stronger connections with themselves and others. Through learning about herd dynamics, we explore how horses navigate their own social structures and how these lessons can help us better navigate our "human herd"—at work, home, and in public settings. One-on-one experiences with horses provide valuable insight into our emotional states.
As prey animals, horses do not inherently trust strangers and rely on their heightened senses to stay safe. Because of this, horses are highly attuned to the energy and emotions of those around them, and their responses serve as a mirror to our own state of being. This unique interaction allows us to recognize and regulate our emotions, fostering a deeper connection with the horse and providing the foundation for a meaningful partnership.
These experiences not only support emotional regulation but also provide tools to help individuals better engage with their community, recognize how they show up in various situations, and navigate stressful interactions. As we grow, we will offer additional programs, advocacy activities, and community events. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to expand our offerings!
Who We Serve
Veterans, First Responders such as police, fire, EMS/EMT, medical personnel, and dispatch.
What we Need
At this time, Hooves & Heroes is just getting started, so our list of needs is long! We appreciate anything you can offer, from your time to your equipment, expertise, or funds to support our growth and sustainability. Click the button below to see the current list of items, goods and services needed to accomplish our mission.
Why We Do It
After the COVD-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020 it became even more evident that the need for supportive services for our first responders, medical personnel and military was needed even more. This spurred our desire to make our "someday" dream a "today" reality.
Simply spending time with horses outside of a structured therapeutic session can have immediate and marked impact on the individual who is interacting with the horse as well as those who share the experience with the person of focus for that session.
Horses have the ability to teach all of us how to exist in a herd, how to identify and regulate our emotions, how to ask for what we need and maintain our boundaries without imposing on the needs and boundaries of others, and so much more!
More than 80% of first responders experience traumatic events on the job (1)
1 in 3 first responders develop PTSD
Having both EMS and firefighting duties was associated with a sixfold increase in the likelihood of reporting a suicide attempt as compared to firefighting alone (2)
Nurses and other frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced an increase in PTSD, anxiety and depression of upwards of 67% to 77% (3)
Law Enforcement has a 9 to 10 times greater prevalence of PTSD than the general population (4)
A large percentage of law enforcement are military Veterans.
At least 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans have PTSD and/or Depression.
·50% of Veterans with PTSD do not seek treatment
Suicide accounts for 49% of law enforcement deaths from all causes except COVID-19. This death rate is two and a half times the rate of all job-related deaths. (alleaps.org)
Although the rate of Veteran and First Responder suicide was down in 2020 for the first time in many years (since 2001, based on the “2022 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report”), it is still the second leading cause of death among Veterans under the age of 45, and still accounts for half of law enforcement deaths.
Veteran participation in equine-related activities results in “…reduced anxiety and depression symptoms, reduced PTSD symptoms, elevated self-esteem and self-awareness, improved communication and trust, and increased overall well-being.” (5)
Many Veterans and First Responders avoid seeking formalized treatment due to stigma or mistrust, and of those who do participate, a large percentage of participants show marginal improvement in symptoms, drop out of treatment before it is completed, and do not have long-term positive results (6). However, those who participate in equine-based programs have a higher participation and completion rate, statistically significant outcomes, and sustained results long after completion of the program (7).