Coffee Clutch with Dutch Henry: Post Traumatic Stress

Showing posts with label Post Traumatic Stress. Show all posts

Monday, November 10, 2014

"Horses and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder"

Howdy Friends,

We are all very sensitive to people enduring Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Veterans, First Responders, Police and of course women and children. But what about horses? Can horses suffer from PTSD? I submit they can and in fact do, all too often do. Sadly this is usually diagnosed as bad or non compliant behavior and a wide variety of "training" routines are administered most of which can only deepen the grip of PTSD in the suffering horse.

Kessy helping me with my PTSD with her love ...

PTSD occurs when a traumatic or sustained stressful event or events occur, causing an over active adrenaline response which creates deep neurological patterns in the brain which can persist for decades after the event or events that triggered the fear. These patterns in the brain are a transformation making the person hyper-sensitive to future stressful or fearful events, real or perceived.

Some of our Coffee Clutch and Facebook friends know bits and pieces of my childhood, the unspeakable abuse I endured for over 3 years locked in a room. I can tell you, to this day as

an old geezer in his 6^th decade of wondering this beautiful world, it takes only a single instances of the wrong kind of fear or stress and I'm 8 years old again, back in that horrid room with the blackened window. Interestingly recent studies at Harvard Medical School in Oregon found that adults who were in foster care for one year between the ages of 14 & 18 were found to have higher rates of PTSD than combat veterans, and the recovery rate significantly lower.

I share the tidbit of my personal struggles to help make the point, the younger the individual, or horse, when the original trigger events happen, the more ingrained the PTSD. The more difficult the personal battle to manage it is. It walks with you as an unwelcomed friend every day. Unexplainable or out of context behavior, feelings and emotions simply occur without the ability to completely manage or control. They are as much a part of PTSD as kisses and hand holding are to love.

In my travels I've seen many horses, young, old and middle aged displaying the symptoms of deeply ingrained PTSD. I know I'm right about this, and it breaks my heart. They may not have all been abused, they may have been weaned too young, trained too hard too young, trained, owned or shown by one, or too many individuals who could not understand them and disciplined instead of trying to connect and understand them. They may have been yanked from friendships, or homes in ways they could never understand.

How can we help horses with PTSD? Our interactions, our intent, our training should follow one simple rule, "Ignore the negative and celebrate the positive." And in everything we do, operate from the horse's perspective ... We want to do our best to never be the trigger that drives them back into that horrid room with the blackened window.

Gitty Up, Dutch Henry

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Welcome to the Coffee Clutch

Welcome to the Coffee Clutch, a happy place to visit. I write uplifting stories about a wide variety of subjects from horses to birds and nature, to love and family and friends. Sometimes I'll post excerpts from stories I've written for Equine Publications. Sometimes I'll post about writing itself. Coffee Clutch got its name because I often write while enjoying my morning coffee in the barn with my mare Kessy, and all our critters. Join us here for fun conversation and stories I promise will make you feel good.

It's For The Horses

This is not a book about riding, or training horses. It is a book on my thoughts, ideas and suggestions on how folks might find the joy in doing things for the horse, with the horses’ point of view as the leading guide. My hope is to help as many people as possible learn to hear the horse, feel their spirit, and in that way help horses everywhere. Over the years I’ve met and worked with remarkable people and horses who taught me about their feelings, their joys, their sadness, and their spirit. As a horse advocate everything I do is from the horse’s perspective, including this little book. Every story, idea, suggestion and thought on these pages will be to suggest and share thoughts and ideas on how to maximize a relationship between horse and human—from the horse’s point of view.

Tom Named by Horse

The only man ever to offer Tom respect is Red Cloud. The only woman to give him love is Red Cloud’s granddaughter. Struggling with his own personal demons, Tom finds himself wedged between honoring that friendship and staying true to the depths of his conscience. Amid a backdrop of tumultuous social upheaval, he finds nothing prepared him, the woman he loves or Chief Red Cloud, for the changes about to thunder into their lives, sweeping them helplessly into the tides of human conflict and historical drama. Available on Amazon.

From The Banks OF Little Bear Creek

The Tom Named by Horse Saga continues. Three years after the death of Tall Dog, Tom Named By Horse and Soft Cloud have turned the little soddy, the lands granted them by Red Cloud, and the lean-to barn into a thriving horse ranch, fulfilling Tom’s dream. The Plains Indians Wars, or Red Cloud’s war, is mostly behind them, and the lands have had their transformation as Red Cloud’s vision had warned years earlier. Trailing horses from the ranch to Denver city has become an annual event for Tom, Buck and the rest, and this is the story of that trail. In the spirit of a good old John Wayne movie, vengeance, cattle and horse thieves, a dirty sheriff and corrupt mayor, and a wedding make this year’s drive a ride you’ll want to tag along on.