QUILCENE — Connected Hearts, a equine therapy facility in Quilcene, is starting a program to help breast cancer survivors recover mentally from the trauma of cancer treatment.
Co-owner Aly Stratton, said breast cancer survivors often suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) similar to that seen in some combat veterans at the facility at 214 Gien Drive.
“After the medical treatment, they’re only partially healed,” Stratton said. “There’s just a number of emotional and social issues these women face.”
Interacting with horses is a common therapy for breast cancer survivors, she said. There are programs across the county that help with both mental and physical rehabilitation through riding to simply caring for horses.
Stratton said her program focuses mostly on simply interacting with the horses to provide a sense of comfort and relaxation, rather than teaching people how to ride.
“We’ll start with just petting a small horse, Violet — she barely qualifies as a horse she’s so small,” Stratton said. “Then we’ll move to bigger horses, just doing things like brushing them.”
Stratton said she wants to work one-on-one with survivors for roughly four to six weeks to get them comfortable with the horses.
“We don’t have to stop there,” Stratton said. “If the patient is gaining from it, we can always continue and we’re looking at maybe incorporating a family day near the end so people can share what they’ve been learning.”
The program, like all the other programs offered at Connected Hearts, is free to participants. Aside from Stratton and her husband Mark, at least two volunteers have committed to helping with the breast cancer survivors program.
Stratton said she has 13 volunteers that work with her on a number of equine therapy programs.
Stratton has been a certified equine therapeutic riding instructor for about 20 years and has been running Connected Hearts for 10 years, ever since she and her family moved to Quilcene.
Connected Hearts also offers riding therapy for veterans with PTSD and people with eating disorders or self-harming behavior, but is open to anyone who may benefit from equine therapy.
Stratton said she started the breast cancer survivors program partially to continue helping people struggling with trauma, but also to give a job to one of her favorite horses.
“It’s kind of a selfish reason,” Stratton said. “She’s a beautiful horse but she can’t be ridden. When she was injured it was recommended that I put her down, but she’s such a wonderful therapy horse. So, I wanted to find something else for her to do that she’d be good at.”
More information on the programs can be found on the Connected Hearts Facebook page or by emailing Stratton at sweetalykat@gmail.com.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
