ABOUT

Why This Page Was Created

Equinefulness was created to share equine research and information that is discovered during our journey. Join us to learn with us as we learn from our mistakes of listening to rhetoric and conclusions formed on the basis of incomplete information. We believe in encouraging new horse owners to join us so they may learn through our mistakes during our journey of becoming equestrians. Through horses, we have learned a lot about ourselves, we have learned through the challenges we have experienced, and we’re proud to have made it to where we are at today. It’s going to be a lifetime of learning and we hope you’ll consider learning with us.

About Us

We are a couple that have began the path of being horse owners. We are beginners that have been encouraged to consider the efficacy of equine assisted therapy for veterans. Many veterans that have seen and/or experienced traumatic events have more than likely heard many things from civilians that understand very little of what it’s like trying to navigate through daily life.

Many veterans and their caregivers may have heard unhelpful and well intended comments of what they need to do or should do. We’re told how we should feel, how we should look at our struggles, where we should go for help, and what help we need.

How often do the well intended helpers ask questions to try to understand the PTSD moments? How often do they say, “I don’t know how to help you but I’m here any time when you need me”? Some helpers struggle with how uncomfortable and helpless they feel. Some people are not helpers at all and they desire to demand for us to “just get over it” or make unhelpful declarations to contact them when you’re done “with your little thing.” How is this helpful?

Caregiver Challenges

Caregivers can frequently have PTSD without their knowledge. For us, it was not until I began to try to understand what my husband was going through that I began to realize what I was going through. We went through nine years of navigating through this without the support we needed. We went to appointment after appointment while my veteran went through a myriad of emotions that I did not understand. What I didn’t realize was how my generational conditioning with automatic responses was not helpful for his needs at all.

The question I had to ask myself was, was I listening to understand or was I listening to reply? Was I asking the right questions instead of asking any question that would justify my reactions and personal agenda? I did not know what I did not know and I went to college to seek some credible answers while working towards a better way, a healthier way of finding my voice. What is credible evidence?

According to USLegal.com, credible evidence is defined as information that may not be true but worthy of consideration because it is natural, reasonable, and probable for believability. Educational writing resources define credible research and sources as abstracts, essays, or studies by authors that are respected in their fields of study that cite their sources. There are varying factors that make a source credible including, but not limited to, peer reviews.(https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/establishing_arguments/research_and_evidence.html)

Where We Are At Today

We have learned through our effort to learn about horses that people in the equine community are no different than people in any other community. Everyone has an opinion and they are often declared without scholastic references so the learner can validate the accuracy of that information.

What is true and what isn’t true? This page is to share the scholastic and credible information we find that equestrians can begin to use to validate their stance of what is or is not believable. Much like the veterans must sift through the rhetoric and conclusions formed on the basis of incomplete information about their emotional condition when so few ever listen to understand what veterans really need. We are too quick to form an opinion with declarations when we rarely know what we do not know.

This page has been created to share what we’ve learned with as much credible educated sourcing as possible and we wholeheartedly encourage you to validate what we share so you come to your own conclusions of what will fit your needs.

Namaste.