PR for People Monthly September 2017 | Page 18

There are various schools of psychotherapy. In recent years, therapists have realized that difficult-to-reach patients, such as autistic children, adults who are dysfunctional due to childhood trauma, couples having trouble communicating, may benefit by undergoing Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) and Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL).

Abigail Hornik, the founder of Chinook Horses: Changing Lives Through Equine Partnerships, has loved horses all her life. It always has been a “must have” sport even while she was working in New York City as an online advertising and marketing person. Taking a break from her demanding career, Abigail came to Montana in 2001 to breed Spanish Mustangs and work with children on the Blackfeet Reservation. A year later, she met her husband, a native Montanan. Abigail fell in love not only with her husband but also with Montana. For 8 years, she owned and designed for her high-end home accessories company, WesternWare Goods, with an equine theme appearing in the majority of her product line. In her free time, she did dressage and jumping with her two treasured horses. Observing her horses and fellow riders, she realized more and more that horses are amazing creatures who take in and respond to situations, and because, they live in the wild in groups, naturally demarcate relationships.

In 2014, Abigail returned to her passion and prepared to open Chinook Horses: Changing Lives Through

From Colorado

Therapy: Forget The Couch Think Horses

by Edith Lynn Beer