Horses help Sask. people heal through equine-assisted learning

Christy Daae walked around the arena in time with Journey, coaxing the horse along with gentle whispers of encouragement.

She's not a "horse whisperer" in the way that term is sometimes used. Daae has been learning to work with the animals in order to learn about herself.

Daae came to Double T Ranch near Qu'Appelle, Sask., as part of her healing from a 20-year struggle with addictions. 

"What the horses have done for me is beyond anything that I've experienced," she said. "They understand in a way that I can't express with words. It touches you in the heart." 

'It heals us'

"We're not therapists and we don't ever claim to be therapists," said Todd McNeice, who operates Double T Ranch alongside his wife Tanya.

They're both equine-assisted learning facilitators who offer experiential learning and skills development with the help of horses. 

"What we have brought to the community is the ability to have the horses be our teachers," Tanya said.

They design programs to meet the needs of specific groups, setting up obstacles, goals, challenges and questions that might encourage a shift in perspective. The focus is life skills for all people, be it those struggling with disease, addiction, mental health or bullying. 

Double T Ranch recently partnered with Regina Sexual Assault Centre. Talks are also underway with Ranch Ehrlo, Pine Lodge Treatment Centre and correctional institutes. 

Both Tanya and Todd describe themselves as recovering addicts who now want to help others and make up for their past behaviour. 

"I wasn't a good person back then and I can admit that today," said Todd, who has been sober for 18 years. 

Tanya, sober for six years, had came to the point where she couldn't trust herself to make the right decisions. She said it was hard to be a mom and even harder to get up in the morning. Her journey has been enlightening. 

"Now, living like this, I get to share that with people and let them find their light," she said. "The smiles that we see leaving here, the tears that we see, the releases that happen here: it heals us at the same time." 

The programming delves into issues of choice, trust, communication, relationships and empowerment. Tanya said the connection with the horses resonates with people long after they leave.

"To have that feeling and that emotion of, 'That horse loved me, and that horse I could trust and that horse took my secrets and never told anybody,'" she said. "That's something they've never gotten before." 

The programming was key for Daae, who said she feels as if she's found the right track. In fact, she's "bubbling over" with hope. She's now working as a house mom for a group of at-risk youth in Regina. 

"I'm giving back using the gifts that I gained through my previous experiences with trauma and addictions to assist people." 

Learning with horses at Double T Ranch

3 years ago

Duration 2:29

The horses have been called the best kind of secret-keepers.

'I couldn't believe I was talking to a horse'

When Keith Olberg came to the ranch to actually work with the horses, he was wracked with "what ifs" in the wake of a colon cancer diagnosis. 

Olberg had struggled with his own addictions in the past but it was the unknown of the illness that brought him there. It didn't take long for his anxieties to melt away with the horse. 

"I couldn't believe I was talking to a horse," he said. Despite his disbelief, he found them to be the best secret keepers.

He said he's not scared anymore but the first day he worked with the horses he was terrified. Olberg said he's often expressed his fear as anger but with the horses his genuine fear emerged.

"The what ifs started coming out and I left a lot of worry out in that arena there that I'm not going to go back and pick up."

Todd said that he'd be happy if the ranch helps one person. 

"But it's helped more than one person," he said. "Pretty much everybody that comes through these doors leaves different."