Equine Therapy Helps Healing in Israel

Equine therapy uses horses as a treatment for people who are suffering from a myriad of physical and mental illnesses. That’s because horses can offer emotional support to help navigate challenging emotional experiences, according to verywell mind. Equine therapy has been growing as an effective way to treat people with mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress system (PTSD).

While there are many people in Israel who are suffering from PTSD, the numbers have greatly increased since the October 7 attack when Hamas invaded Israel and killed over 1,200 people, wounded thousands, and kidnapped 250 people (100 people are still being held in horrific conditions).

One of the places that was brutalized was the Nova Music Festival where around 3,500 people had gone to listen to music and to dance. On that dark day, 260 people were slaughtered, dozens kidnapped, and the survivors who witnessed unspeakable horror were left traumatized and in need of healing. This led Dr. Anita Shkedi, a pioneer in equine therapy to come out of retirement and to start a program to help these PTSD sufferers begin the long road to recovery.

Brothers of Jonathon 
After October 7, Shkedi came back to Israel – she had been lecturing abroad – and launched the Brothers of Jonathan charity with her daughter-in-law Shani in memory of her son Jonathan, who died in Lebanon in 1993, Shkedi told Goodnet. She said, “I had to do something so I came out of retirement…this was the way I could help.”

She explained that the Nova survivors who were highly traumatized from the attacks were in a state of hypo arousal, with many having run for their lives. It is very important to help treat these people with the symptoms of trauma because if they are not treated early it will turn into chronic PTSD.

The crisis cannot be adequately met by Israel’s health facilities due to waiting lists at health centers, not enough funding, and a shortage of qualified therapists, reported The Jerusalem Post. Even with early intervention a third of PTSD patients do not fully recover.

While Nova survivors are entitled to help for one year, Shkedi told Goodnet, “this quickly gets eaten up.   

Transcending Trauma
The first project launched by Brothers of Jonathon is the Transcending Trauma equine therapy program that assists people in early and mid PTSD. The initiative is being run in two locations, in Moshav Hibat Zion and Kibbutz Nahsholim with the help of three additional therapists, Shani Shkedi, Nikki Kagan, and Timna Benn.

While the initiative revolves around equine therapy, it takes trauma sufferers from the music festival time before they are ready to connect to others. That’s why other calming methods like meditation and breathing exercises are used at the beginning of each session, reported The Jerusalem Post.

It is only after the mind is relaxed that the participants can calm the survival response that they are stuck in. After meditating, the participants groom and saddle their horses. But rides last only 15 minutes so not to be too taxing.

Many of the program’s participants have lost their trust in people, but they can still connect to the horses. “When the participants are with the horses, they put their memories of trauma aside,  Shkedi told Goodnet. “When they are riding they get in touch with their bodies.”

But the participants all react to the horses differently, she explained. There was one person who was very, very afraid. She didn’t want to go near the horses. She closed herself off. When she finished the sessions she could get on a horse.

This free 8-week program, which also helps soldiers with PTSD, is being funded through private donations. Transcending Trauma has treated 80 trauma sufferers – 25 were from the Nova festival – and 25 are currently in treatment. But it is not enough. Shkedi wants to expand the program into the South and to the outskirts of Jerusalem so that more people can participate.

She is also training post graduate therapeutic riding instructors and healthcare providers, reported Israel21c, so that they can work with people suffering from PTSD using the methods that Shkedi developed. This way her work will continue long after she retires.