Emily Aho of Jaffrey knows keenly the impacts of COVID-19. She’s lost two family members to the virus, including her father, Leo DiPalma, who is one of the residents who died from the outbreak at Holyoke Soldier’s Home in Massachusetts.
Aho, a former nurse, said she wanted desperately to give back in some way. When she was looking through a closet for some of her father’s things, and found them tucked away among some of her certification materials for equine-assisted learning, she said she felt as though her father had whispered the answer in her ear.
Aho, founder of the Newfoundland Pony Conservancy Center in Jaffrey, said she’s had to shut down her regular programming under COVID-19, but is now planning, in conjunction with the organization True Hope Therapeutic Horsemanship in Troy, to put together a ten-week program that uses both ground work and riding as a therapeutic outlet for medical workers and first responders – a service that will be provided free for those on the front lines of the COVID-19 fight.
Recently, a few health care workers got a dry run of the initial stages of the program, learning to lead Storm and Erik, two of Aho’s rescue Newfoundland ponies, leading them through obstacles in an outdoor ring, and in the process, learning how to build a relationship.
The point of equine therapy, Aho said, is that there is no way to approach it angry, tense or frustrated. Horses and ponies are prey animals, and sensitive to potentially troubling emotions, while at the same time, being solid animals that don’t have to listen if they’re not approached in the right way.
Lynda Hunt of Rindge, a registered nurse, said when she was working with her pony, Storm, she felt that acutely. In order to get the pony to do what she wanted, she said, she had to rely on the expertise of Aho, but also form a relationship with Storm at the same time.
“I knew something wasn’t right,” she said, of her early attempts to lead Storm over a few low poles on the ground and lead her about the ring. “I was like, ‘What am I doing wrong here?’ The listening piece really worked. I listened to you, and then she was listening to me. I felt a little bond with her. I started to feel trust. And I have a little bit of fear of horses, so this is really big for me.”
Sue Ohmart of Hinsdale, who is an emergency department nurse in Brattleboro, Vermont, said she has horsemanship experience, from years ago, and was always taught to be the leader in the relationship. The work she was doing with her pony, Erik, took a different approach, emphasizing a partnership.
“I just had to be aware of myself and the way I am around him, because once I started to stop trying to make him go my way, he did it,” Ohmart said. And she truly won him over when she found and took care of an itchy spot for him.
Kate Thorndike, president of the Board of Directors for True Hope, said she and Aho had been working towards collaborating on a project aimed at anti-bullying for children, when coronavirus shut-downs put their plans on hold.
“COVID-19 came and closed us down, and became such an emergency of epic proportions for all of these nurses and doctors and medical professionals who are suffering on the front lines of this virus,” Thorndike said. “It was Emily’s idea, a beautiful idea, and we decided to forgo the original program and work on this.”
Participants begin the program at Newfoundland Pony Conservancy Center, working with critically endangered Newfoundland ponies, working on objective-based exercises the promote teamwork and introspection. Later, the program moves to therapeutic horsemanship with True Hope, where they continue learning ground skills and move on eventually to therapeutic riding, if desired.
To prevent potential spread of COVID-19, the sessions will only have two participants per lesson, with face masks worn by participants and instructors, and hand sanitization and washing before each session will be used. All equipment used, such as halters, leads and brushes, will be sanitized before and after each lesson.
For now, Aho said, the program is focusing on nurses and doctors and other health care workers, but she hopes to eventually expand it to also serve veterans and first responders eventually. All those accepted into the program participate free of charge.
For more information about this program, contact Newfoundland Pony Conservancy at 532-8809 or newfoundlandponyinfo@gmail.com or True Hope Therapeutic Horsmanship at 757-2808 or information@truhopeth.org or visit www.healtheheroes.com.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.