Equus Effect: healing with horses

Jane Strong conducting exercises with horse Dutch.

Sava Marinkovic

Equus Effect: healing with horses

SHARON — Every day, approximately 20 United States military veterans take their own lives. It was an awareness of this statistic that led Jane Strong and David Sonatore to found the Equus Effect, an equine experiential learning and coaching facility in Sharon, in 2012. Since then, over 1800 veterans, first responders, and others who live or work in high-stress environments have moved through the Equus Effect’s curriculum, acquiring — through contact with horses — the tools to improve communication and compassion, and to navigate the challenges, subtleties, and nuanced relationships of civilian life.

On Saturday, Sept. 7, supporters of the Equus Effect gathered under its round pen’s rainy eaves to learn and observe just why horses are uniquely suited to this restorative work.

“A relationship with a horse is based purely on trust,” said Strong, lead program facilitator and a former competitive rider, “they ask us to engage all our senses and be totally present.” The horse, a prey animal, is profoundly attuned to the emotional and nervous energy of its surroundings as a matter of survival; it is also expressive, honest, and unselfconscious.

When in conversation with a human, a horse asks for the same in return. Approaching a horse, one’s outward and inner aspects must be congruent in order not to unnerve the animal. “You can’t hide behind a mask,” said Strong, explaining that this need for transparency helps people overcome the fear and stigma that cause emotional repression.

Further, work with horses engages the entire body, revealing where trauma might appear stuck. “Our limbic systems work outside time,” said Strong, locating the primitive, lower-order parts of the brain responsible for emotional processing. “So there’s no ‘talking you out’ of trauma.” Instead, work with horses helps those “stuck” with trauma to “move through it and release it through action.”

Huddled around the pen, attendees of the Fall Event were walked through some of these actions and their benefits by program facilitators, alongside horses Dutch, Tango, Lance, and Babe.

Using only body language — such as posture, purposeful eye contact, and controlled breathing — facilitators asked horses to back up, move forward, and walk circles. With patience, and applying the principle of “minimum essential pressure,” horses were coaxed into collaboration with the facilitators, showcasing the massive mammals’ capacity for empathy, partnership, and quiet understanding. In addition to their emotional grounding effect, these exercises help participants build tools for the maintenance of fair, trust-based relationships with other people.

“The connection is deep, almost spiritual,” said 2022 program participant Peter Gworek, a military veteran. “The horses teach you how to manage your energy, connect with your inner self, and be calm.” Also a 2022 alum, veteran Melodie Wilson said that when one is handling a horse, “you can’t think of anything else — you slow down, learn to be more understanding.”

Ultimately, understanding — of oneself and of others — is the key to bridging the divide that Strong says exists between veterans and civilians. Working within that gap are horses, our companions of nearly 6,000 years, who Sonatore points out “might just save the life of someone you one day need to save yours.”

Right, David Sonatore (on stage, left), Jane Strong (stage, right), and veteran and first responder program graduates, wearing sashes.Sava Marinkovic

Latest News

East Canaan's CowPots to face the 'Sharks'

Amanda Freund of East Canaan will appear on the television show "Shark Tank" on April 4 to pitch CowPots.

Photo by Ruth Epstein

CANAAN — Fans of the television show “Shark Tank,” stay tuned. On Friday, April 4, Amanda Freund of East Canaan will be facing the panel, imploring members to invest in her unique product: cow poop.

Freund and her father Matthew Freund produce and market CowPots, which are made from the abundance of manure found on their dairy farm. Matthew Freund, realizing cows were producing more manure — 100 pounds per cow per day — than was needed for fertilizing fields for crops, came up with the concept of the pots. Years of trial-and-error experimentation finally resulted in success. In 2006 he began selling the biodegradable pots using 100% composted manure to local stores. Now the pots can be found in outlets across the country, as well as internationally.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss lacrosse ices Kingswood Oxford 19-0

LAKEVILLE — The Hotchkiss School opened the girls varsity lacrosse season with a big win in the snow against Kingswood Oxford School.

The Bearcats won 19-0 in a decisive performance March 26. Twelve different players scored for Hotchkiss, led by Coco Sheronas with four goals.

Keep ReadingShow less
HVRHS releases second quarter honor roll

FALLS VILLAGE — Principal Ian Strever announces the second quarter marking period Honor Roll at Housatonic Valley Regional High School for the 2024-2025 school year.

Highest Honor Roll

Grade 9: Parker Beach (Cornwall), Mia Belter (Salisbury), Lucas Bryant (Cornwall), Addison Green (Kent), Eliana Lang (Salisbury), Alison McCarron (Kent), Katherine Money (Kent), Mira Norbet (Sharon), Abigail Perotti (North Canaan), Karmela Quinion (North Canaan), Owen Schnepf (Wassaic), Federico Vargas Tobon (Salisbury), Emery Wisell (Kent).

Keep ReadingShow less
Thomas Ditto

ANCRAMDALE — Thomas Ditto of Ancramdale, born Thomas David DeWitt Aug. 11, 1944 in New York City changing his surname to Ditto at marriage, passed peacefully on Pi Day, March 14, 2025. He was a husband, father, artist, scientist, Shakespeare scholar, visionary, inventor, actor, mime, filmmaker, clown, teacher, lecturer, colleague, and friend. Recipient of numerous grants, awards and honors in both the arts and sciences, a Guggenheim and NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts fellow, he was a creative genius beyond his time. In addition to authoring scores of papers, he held several patents and invented the first motion capture system and the Ditto-scope, a radically new kind of telescope. He was a pioneer in computer generated video, film, and performance.

When not hard at work, he was always there to help when needed and he knew how to bring smiles to faces. He loved his family and pets and was supportive of his wife’s cat rescue work.

Keep ReadingShow less