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00:00Located just a few miles down the road from historic Saratoga Racecourse, Therapeutic
00:06Horses of Saratoga serves as a haven for both humans and racehorses alike.
00:10Since 2018, the non-profit has provided space for mental wellness through the Horse and
00:15Human Connection and is now working towards expanding its outreach to the community and
00:19beyond.
00:21This farm is meant to be a place of health, healing, and wellness for the horses and for
00:27the humans who come here to visit.
00:28So our mission is twofold.
00:31First and foremost, we are proud to be a Thoroughbred After Care Alliance accredited organization.
00:36The 29 horses here are each telling a story of what it looks like to have owners who really,
00:40really care.
00:41This horse has done all he can with someone on his back, and that is usually a vulnerable
00:46moment because once they can't be ridden, they become theoretically less useful, but
00:50that is only theoretical.
00:51We find them incredibly useful as therapy animals.
00:54So our second part of our mission is to share these horses, build around the Horse-Human
00:59Connection to provide wellness and healing and health to all of those in our Saratoga
01:05community.
01:07So the Equine Assisted Psychotherapy is our primary program.
01:11It is the one that we were built around, and what that means is that we here at the farm
01:16are taking care of the horses and making them available to licensed mental health professionals
01:22and clinicians.
01:24The idea of the Horse-Human Connection is to enable folks to connect with horses.
01:29Horses are incredibly calming.
01:31One of my observations was a young girl who is here, we work with a lot of children at
01:35the farm, she was very anxious, unfortunately this is very common.
01:39So she was in a paddock with our two miniature ponies.
01:41The minis were way over on the other side of the paddock because they could see all
01:44that energy and they were having none of it.
01:47And by the end of the session, as this process of like self-regulation and moderating her
01:52energy happened, the ponies rewarded her with like the ultimate prize for all of us is when
01:58the animal walks right up to you and nuzzles you and you feel like, you know, you've won
02:01the day.
02:02It is a really exciting time.
02:04I've just joined Therapeutic Horses Saratoga just about six months ago and it is just such
02:08a great moment in this organization's evolution.
02:12All that has been built over these first six years and then to really be at this inflection
02:16point.
02:17We're calling this year a year of transformation because there's so much potential.
02:22In partnership with ECS, which is a large and thriving psychological services practice,
02:26there are 20 plus therapists up at ECS.
02:29We have all the mental health professionals that we need.
02:32Now with our new arena, we have the space in which to put them.
02:35So the new arena is essentially an indoor pasture where our programs can happen, but
02:41it gives us tremendous potential for doing more of what we're already doing.
02:47Anyone out there in the world that needs healing, you know, we are here to help and that's what
02:52we really want the world to know at this point.
02:54It's really subtle what happens here, but it's also extremely powerful because it's
02:58that replicability that the horses give you that you can take into the world.